Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 31,192 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lowered its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 62.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,105 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 31,192 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned approximately 0.06% of Matson worth $2,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Matson in the first quarter worth $917,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Matson during the first quarter worth about $310,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 20,881 shares during the period. RHS Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. RHS Financial LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 18,928.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,421 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 7,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded up $3.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $114.48. 307,225 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,691. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50 day moving average is $109.90 and its 200-day moving average is $124.19.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is presently 8.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of Matson 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 transaction, the director directly owned 8,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $914,196.80. The trade was a 50.70% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $138.33.

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.