Convergence Investment Partners LLC Buys New Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,561 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Matson by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 112.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 783 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were acquired 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 $914,196.80. This trade represents a 50.70% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens cut their price target on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.67.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $108.77. The stock had a trading volume of 260,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 367,081. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average is $111.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.96%.

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.