Financial Contrast: Matson (NYSE:MATX) vs. Royal Mail (OTCMKTS:ROYMY)

Royal Mail (OTCMKTS:ROYMY – Get Free Report) and Matson (NYSE:MATX – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Royal Mail and Matson, as provided by MarketBeat.

Matson has a consensus target price of $156.25, indicating a potential downside of 0.19%. Given Matson’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Matson is more favorable than Royal Mail.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.8% of Matson shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of Matson shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Mail and Matson’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Royal Mail and Matson”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Matson has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Royal Mail.

Dividends

Royal Mail pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Matson pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Matson pays out 10.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matson has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Matson is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Royal Mail has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matson has a beta of 1.32, indicating that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Matson beats Royal Mail on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royal Mail

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International Distributions Services plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a universal postal service provider in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company offers parcels and letter delivery services under the Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide brands. It also provides services for the collection, sorting, and delivery of parcels and letters. In addition, the company operates ground-based parcel delivery networks in Europe that covers 40 countries and nation states. Further, it provides express parcel delivery and logistics services. Additionally, the company engages in property holdings and facilities management activities. It serves consumers, and small and medium-sized enterprises. The company was formerly known as Royal Mail plc and changed its name to International Distributions Services plc in October 2022. International Distributions Services plc was founded in 1516 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

About Matson

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Matson, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia. It primarily transports dry containers of mixed commodities, refrigerated commodities, food products, beverages, building materials, automobiles, and household goods; livestock; seafood; general sustenance cargo; and garments, footwear, e-commerce, and other retail merchandise. This segment also operates an expedited service from China to Long Beach, California, and various islands in the South Pacific, as well as Okinawa, Japan; and provides stevedoring, refrigerated cargo services, inland transportation, container equipment maintenance, and other terminal services to ocean carriers on the Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, as well as in the Alaska locations of Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. In addition, it offers vessel management and container transshipment services. The Logistics segment provides multimodal transportation brokerage services, including domestic and international rail intermodal, long-haul and regional highway trucking, specialized hauling, flat-bed and project, less-than-truckload, and expedited freight services; less-than-container load consolidation and freight forwarding services; warehousing and distribution services; supply chain management services, and non-vessel operating common carrier freight forwarding services. It serves the U.S. military, freight forwarders, retailers, consumer goods, automobile manufacturers, and other customers. The company was formerly known as Alexander & Baldwin Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Matson, Inc. in June 2012. Matson, Inc. was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.