Jennison Associates LLC Invests $872,000 in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,803 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Matson by 16.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Matson by 112.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 783 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MATX shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on 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 cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens cut their target price on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.67.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE MATX traded down $0.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $108.85. 98,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,574. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. 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 released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.07 million. Matson had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 20.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale 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.