First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 61.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,319 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 30,998 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.27% of Matson worth $13,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 0.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,021,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Matson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,456 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,639,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Matson by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,880 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Matson by 3.1% in the third quarter. Amundi now owns 5,637 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total value of $527,884.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,625.68. The trade was a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 7,173 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total transaction of $1,292,502.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,506 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,595,926.14. The trade was a 21.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MATX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Matson to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.25.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $203.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $198.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.20. Matson had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.55 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. 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%. Matson's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Matson Company 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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