WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 9,298 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Key Points

• WINTON GROUP Ltd cut its stake in Matson by 45.4%, selling 9,298 shares and leaving the firm with 11,202 shares valued at about $1.10 million at quarter-end.
• Matson beat quarterly expectations, reporting $4.60 EPS versus $3.69 expected and $851.9M in revenue (vs. $847.3M), although revenue fell 4.3% year-over-year.
• Company insiders have been net sellers—about 40,041 shares sold over the past three months—and analysts' consensus is a "Hold" with an average price target near $156.25 while the stock trades around $154.

WINTON GROUP Ltd lessened its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 45.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,202 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 9,298 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Matson were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 124.3% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Matson during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 100.8% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 510 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Matson by 482.8% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 542 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Trading Down 1.8%

MATX opened at $153.93 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.30. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $177.51. The firm has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $847.30 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 16.63%. Matson's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 5th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Matson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kevin L. Stuck sold 2,524 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.08, for a total transaction of $421,709.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $389,463.48. The trade was a 51.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $339,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,289,448.36. The trade was a 12.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,645,707. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MATX. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Matson from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.25.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc NYSE: MATX is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson's ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.

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