Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX - Free Report) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 597,499 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 161,093 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 1.80% of Matson worth $80,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $542,759,000 after purchasing an additional 11,357 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $146,562,000 after purchasing an additional 106,490 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,049,772 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $141,551,000 after acquiring an additional 91,172 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 753,414 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $101,590,000 after acquiring an additional 58,027 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 663,245 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $89,432,000 after acquiring an additional 117,545 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $153.33.

Matson Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE MATX traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $108.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 1.12. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $92.90 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.30.

Matson (NYSE:MATX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Matson's payout ratio is 9.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.