D.A. Davidson & CO. Invests $512,000 in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,995 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Matson by 2.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 186,236 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $23,870,000 after buying an additional 5,280 shares in the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,009 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $917,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Matson by 194.3% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,628 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $4,054,000 after acquiring an additional 20,881 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MATX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Matson has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE MATX traded down $2.75 during trading on Monday, hitting $113.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 397,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,891. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.53. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is currently 8.96%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 14,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $914,196.80. This trade represents a 50.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

About Matson

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.