New York State Teachers Retirement System Has $6.16 Million Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,057 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 3,389 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Matson worth $6,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Bessemer Group Inc. grew 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 during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 414 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX traded down $2.67 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $110.48. 290,987 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 349,570. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 1.28. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.75 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $111.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.24. 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 (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The business's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued 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 1.30%. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's payout ratio is currently 8.96%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden acquired 2,752 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $914,196.80. This represents a 50.70% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matson currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.33.

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.