2,400 Shares in Matson, Inc. $MATX Acquired by Virtus Advisers LLC

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 purchased a new stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,400 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $308,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 6.7% during the first quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,419 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 6.5% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 13,756 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Matson by 18.2% during the first quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 274,334 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $35,161,000 after purchasing an additional 42,162 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 10.9% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 461,769 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $59,188,000 after purchasing an additional 45,296 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 2.0% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 352,746 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $45,212,000 after acquiring an additional 6,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Matson has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.67.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Matson Trading Down 1.3%

MATX stock traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.08. 347,450 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,172. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $108.75 and a 200-day moving average of $115.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson's payout ratio is currently 9.74%.

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.