Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Acquires 83,013 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec increased its holdings in Matson, Inc. by 57.4% during the 1st quarter, acquiring a total of 227,636 shares valued at approximately $29.18 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial Inc. and Freedom Investment Management Inc., have also increased their positions in Matson during the same period, reflecting a growing interest among large investors.
• Matson recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.36, up from $0.34, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.4% for shareholders.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 57.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 227,636 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 83,013 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned approximately 0.70% of Matson worth $29,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $365,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Matson by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 484,432 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $65,321,000 after acquiring an additional 61,204 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth $441,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth $236,000. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its position in Matson by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 20,570 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE MATX traded down $1.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.08. The stock had a trading volume of 347,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,172. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.75 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $108.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.08. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.The company had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $727.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. Matson's revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost 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 9.74%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, 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 transaction of $114,777.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,477,703.54. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.67.

Matson 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.