27,556 Shares in Matson, Inc. $MATX Acquired by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. has acquired 27,556 shares of Matson, Inc., valued at approximately $3.53 million, representing about 0.08% ownership of the company.
• In the first quarter, several institutional investors made significant changes to their positions in Matson, including a 495.3% increase in stake by the State of Wyoming.
• Matson, Inc. has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.36 per share, reflecting a positive change in its annualized dividend yield to 1.4%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 27,556 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $3,532,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Matson as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 6.6% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,158,834 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $148,528,000 after buying an additional 71,902 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Matson by 424.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 958,170 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $121,428,000 after acquiring an additional 775,600 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 603,634 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $77,368,000 after purchasing an additional 6,135 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Matson by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 484,432 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $65,321,000 after purchasing an additional 61,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 461,769 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $59,188,000 after purchasing an additional 45,296 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total transaction of $114,777.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Matson Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:MATX traded up $1.17 on Friday, hitting $105.56. The stock had a trading volume of 277,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,467. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $108.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.42. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-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. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.14 and a beta of 1.21.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released 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. Matson had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The firm had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $727.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Matson's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.67.

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.