South Dakota Investment Council Decreases Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 80.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,814 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 7,256 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Matson were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Matson by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Matson by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 323,124 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $43,570,000 after purchasing an additional 36,156 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Matson in the 1st quarter worth about $507,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,328,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 416,473 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $56,157,000 after purchasing an additional 177,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $135.00 to $115.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Up 0.1%

MATX traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.87. 35,269 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,038. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.75 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The stock's 50-day moving average is $111.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.28. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

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.