Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 36,901 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Matson, Inc. by 44.6% during the first quarter, holding approximately 119,628 shares valued at $15.33 million.
• Matson reported $2.92 earnings per share in its last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.18, but its revenue decreased by 2.0% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, marking a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.34, with an annualized yield of 1.3%.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 44.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 119,628 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,901 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.36% of Matson worth $15,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Matson by 30.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 764 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Matson by 112.2% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 783 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth $104,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $914,196.80. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MATX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX stock traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.01. The stock had a trading volume of 318,898 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,296. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.45. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.75 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 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 analysts' expectations of $727.30 million. Matson had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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