Matson (MATX) Rewards Shareholders With 3.2% Dividend Hike
In a shareholder-friendly move, Matson, Inc. MATX has announced a hike in its dividend payout. Matson’s board of directors has approved a dividend hike of 3.2%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend from 31 cents per share to 32 cents. The raised dividend will be paid out on Sep 7, 2023, to all its shareholders of record as of Aug 3, 2023. The move reflects MATX’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.
Matson, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)
Matson, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | Matson, Inc. Quote
Matt Cox, chairman and chief executive officer at Matson, stated, "This announcement marks the eleventh consecutive annual increase to Matson's quarterly dividend, reflecting our Board's confidence in our long-term free cash flow growth." He further added, "We will continue to be disciplined in our approach to capital allocation and are committed to the return of excess capital to shareholders after funding our dividend, supporting our operations with maintenance capital, and investing in growth opportunities, while maintaining an investment grade balance sheet."
MATX has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. During first-quarter 2023, Matson paid $11.3 million in dividends and repurchased shares worth $40 million. As of Mar 31, 2023, Matson had 0.9 million shares remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
During 2022 and 2021, Matson paid $48 million and $45.9 million in dividends and repurchased shares worth $397 million and $198.3 million, respectively.
Dividend-paying stocks provide a solid income stream and have fewer chances of experiencing wild price swings. Dividend stocks, like MATX, are safe bets for creating wealth, as the payouts generally act as a hedge against economic uncertainty like the current scenario.
MATX management’s decision to increase its quarterly dividend payout reflects the company’s commitment toward boosting shareholder value apart from underlining confidence in its business. We believe such shareholder-friendly initiatives should boost investor confidence and positively impact thisstock’s bottom line.
Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider
Matson currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks for investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector are Copa Holdings CPA and Allegiant Travel Company ALGT. Each of these companies presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Copa Holdings has an expected earnings growth rate of 75.42% for the current year. CPA delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.60%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPA’s current-year earnings has improved 25.5% over the past 90 days. Shares of CPA have soared 32.6% over the past six months.
Allegiant has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. ALGT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 79.78%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALGT’s current-year earnings has improved 46.5% over the past 90 days. Shares of ALGT have surged 82.8% over the past six months.
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Matson, Inc. (MATX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
