Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Invests $595,000 in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in Matson, Inc., purchasing 4,641 shares valued at approximately $595,000.
• Matson recently reported earnings per share of $2.92, significantly exceeding analyst estimates and revealing a revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.36, effective September 4th, representing an annual yield of 1.3%.

Sierra Summit Advisors 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 and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,641 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $595,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 5.2% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 4.3% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 4.6% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,637 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, Director Bradley D. Tilden acquired 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were 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 owned 8,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $914,196.80. This represents a 50.70% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total value of $114,777.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at $1,477,703.54. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded down $5.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.74. 383,489 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 407,272. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.47 and a 200 day moving average of $117.83. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on MATX shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.67.

Matson Company Profile

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.