Danske Bank A S Acquires Shares of 64,249 Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• Danske Bank acquired 64,249 Matson shares worth approximately $12.35 million, giving it a 0.21% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 84.76% of the company.
• Analysts have turned more bullish on Matson, with upgrades and higher price targets from JPMorgan and Stephens. The stock carries an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $232.33.
• Matson exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $4.27 and revenue of $969.4 million, while revenue rose 16.7% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.38 per share.

Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 64,249 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $12,351,000. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.21% of Matson at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MATX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Matson in the second quarter worth about $952,903,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,671,519 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $453,616,000 after acquiring an additional 21,516 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Matson by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,982,793 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $244,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,463 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 27.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 144.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MATX. Zacks Research raised Matson from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Matson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Matson from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $232.33.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock opened at $216.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The stock's fifty day moving average is $206.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $893.91 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.92 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Matson's payout ratio is 10.16%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. This trade represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer C. Tungul sold 402 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $83,812.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,220,083.48. The trade was a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,169 shares of company stock valued at $2,933,211 over the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc NYSE: MATX is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson's ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.

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