Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 8,568 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 70.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,614 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 8,568 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Matson were worth $463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Matson by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 67.7% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 5.2% in the first quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 4.3% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,767 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 4.6% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,637 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.67.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX traded up $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $107.97. 357,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,654. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $111.07 and a 200 day moving average of $119.93. 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 current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. The firm had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This is an increase from Matson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Matson's payout ratio is currently 8.96%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $111.76 per share, for a total transaction of $307,563.52. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,180 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders own 2.05% of the company's stock.

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.