Diversified Trust Co Acquires Shares of 7,154 Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,154 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $917,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Matson by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were 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 owned 5,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $629,136.68. The trade was a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE MATX traded down $1.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $113.07. The company had a trading volume of 149,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 348,309. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.45 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. 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 8.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens reduced 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.