Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 45,296 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Matson, Inc. by 10.9% in the first quarter, owning a total of 461,769 shares valued at $59.19 million.
• Matson recently reported earnings of $2.92 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.18, alongside revenue of $830.5 million.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.34 to $0.36 per share, indicating a positive trend in shareholder returns.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 461,769 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 45,296 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.41% of Matson worth $59,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Boston Partners raised its stake in Matson by 424.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 958,170 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $121,428,000 after buying an additional 775,600 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,897,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth approximately $23,325,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 14,218.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 175,977 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $22,555,000 after purchasing an additional 174,748 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,204,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock traded down $1.77 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.28. 369,356 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,622. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $108.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.21. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $91.75 and a one year high of $169.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $830.50 million for 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,477,703.54. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Matson 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.