Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 11,357 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,357 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Matson worth $542,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,562,000 after buying an additional 106,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Matson by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,049,772 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $141,551,000 after acquiring an additional 91,172 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,788,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the third quarter worth approximately $6,735,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,746,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Matson Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of MATX opened at $128.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.50 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $136.78 and its 200-day moving average is $141.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. Equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MATX. Stephens boosted their price target on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson 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 transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % 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 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.