New York State Common Retirement Fund Increases Stock Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,891 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,182 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.07% of Matson worth $2,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 32.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,911 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 6.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,649 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Matson by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 22,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Skylands Capital LLC acquired a new position in Matson during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 36,736 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,259,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $111.81 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $108.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.21 and a 52-week high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 8.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st.

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.