American Century Companies Inc. Has $148.53 Million Stock Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Matson, Inc. by 6.6%, owning 1,158,834 shares valued at approximately $148.5 million.
• Matson recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.36, which represents an increase from the previous dividend of $0.34.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" for Matson, with varied price target estimates ranging from $115.00 to $150.00 after recent adjustments.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,158,834 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,902 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.55% of Matson worth $148,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 676.8% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 769 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 112.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 783 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bradley D. Tilden acquired 2,752 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,180 shares in the company, valued at $914,196.80. This represents a 50.70% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Matson Stock Performance

MATX traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $102.05. 154,574 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 409,920. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.69 and a 200 day moving average of $116.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.22.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.The company had revenue of $830.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is currently 9.74%.

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.