Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 4,328 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,918 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,328 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.23% of Matson worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Matson by 64.3% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 17,836 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,983 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth $2,370,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,067 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 103,398 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $13,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.33.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Matson Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE MATX traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $114.42. 308,207 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 344,502. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $107.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.14. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $91.75 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $818.07 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The company's revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. Matson's payout ratio is 8.96%.

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.