Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys New Shares in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB acquired a new position in Matson, Inc. by purchasing 3,600 shares worth approximately $461,000 during the first quarter.
• Matson, Inc. recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.18, missing analysts' expectations of $2.34, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 8.3%.
• The company declared a quarterly $0.36 dividend, indicating a positive change from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.34, with an annualized yield of 1.34%.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,600 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Matson by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,552 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $674,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Matson by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,133 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,310,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Matson by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $542,759,000 after buying an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Matson by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,124 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $43,570,000 after acquiring an additional 36,156 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.67.

Insider Activity at Matson

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 14,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Matson stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 332,626. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.24.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 20.02%. Matson's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.04 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.96%.

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.