Denali Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,740 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Matson by 16.3% during 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 period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,170 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Matson by 5.2% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock traded down $0.98 during trading on Thursday, hitting $107.96. 51,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,274. The stock's fifty day moving average is $111.85 and its 200 day moving average is $121.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.75 and a 12 month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 EPS. Matson's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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