Nuveen LLC Acquires New Holdings in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

Error: Response status code does not indicate success: 429 (Too Many Requests).

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 181,986 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $23,325,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.55% of Matson at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth $104,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 22.9% during the first quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 1,009 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MATX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, August 1st. Stephens lowered their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total value of $114,777.36. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. The trade was a 7.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the business's 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 8,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $914,196.80. The trade was a 50.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Up 3.0%

MATX traded up $3.0880 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $106.0180. 279,405 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 410,461. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.22. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $109.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $91.75 and a one year 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 the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. The company had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend 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 presently 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.