Virtus Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 2,400 Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• Virtus Advisers LLC has acquired a new stake in Matson, Inc., purchasing 2,400 shares valued at approximately $308,000 in the first quarter of the year.
• Matson recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.36, which will be paid on September 4th, reflecting a 1.4% yield.
• Analysts have recently downgraded Matson's rating from "buy" to "hold," with target price revisions suggesting a current average target of $131.67.

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,400 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,328,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,652 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,650,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Matson by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,598 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth about $365,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.08. The stock had a trading volume of 347,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,172. 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 twelve month low of $91.75 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.22.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a net margin of 14.26% and a return on equity of 18.90%. The business had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $727.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.31 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson's dividend payout ratio is 9.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total transaction of $114,777.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This trade represents a 7.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

About Matson

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.