Matson, Inc. $MATX Shares Sold by London Co. of Virginia

Key Points

• London Co. of Virginia trimmed its Matson stake by 3.1% in the first quarter, selling 7,832 shares and ending with 244,282 shares worth about $40 million.
• Matson has seen mixed Wall Street sentiment: JPMorgan started coverage with an overweight rating, while the overall consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $181.25 target price.
• The company reported better-than-expected EPS of $1.85 for the latest quarter, and it also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.38 per share from $0.36.

London Co. of Virginia reduced its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,282 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 7,832 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia owned about 0.81% of Matson worth $40,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MATX. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Matson by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 29,456 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,639,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,880 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Matson in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.25.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total value of $450,475.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,979,206.96. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 3,331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $600,046.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,719,796.58. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 23,963 shares of company stock valued at $4,349,268 in the last 90 days. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $210.84 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $230.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $197.21 and a 200-day moving average of $174.45. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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