Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 54.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,390 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 12,414 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Matson were worth $1,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,016,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,897,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 73.9% in 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Matson by 14,218.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 175,977 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $22,555,000 after purchasing an additional 174,748 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $20,204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MATX. Stephens dropped their target price 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. 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" 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 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at $629,136.68. This trade represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,180 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

Matson Trading Up 2.4%

MATX stock traded up $2.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $116.18. The stock had a trading volume of 312,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,991. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 1.28. 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 12-month low of $91.75 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The company's 50-day moving average price is $111.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.65.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The firm's revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is presently 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.