Invesco Ltd. Trims Holdings in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has decreased its stake in Matson, Inc. by 39.9%, selling 138,126 shares, leaving it with approximately 0.63% ownership valued at $26.7 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Matson, with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board growing its holdings by 186.7% during the last quarter.
• Matson has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.36, reflecting a yield of 1.4%.

Invesco Ltd. cut its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 39.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 208,463 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 138,126 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.63% of Matson worth $26,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Matson during the first quarter worth $595,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Matson by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 764 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 53.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 74,679 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $9,572,000 after acquiring an additional 25,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 297,914 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $38,184,000 after purchasing an additional 52,151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded up $3.2580 during trading on Friday, hitting $106.1880. The company's stock had a trading volume of 431,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,483. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.75 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.41.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $830.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.Matson's revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is presently 9.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total value of $114,777.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.