GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 144 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 11.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,373 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 144 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MATX. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Matson by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Matson by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,170 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in shares of Matson by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,598 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Matson has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total transaction of $55,735.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. The trade was a 8.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 14,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

MATX opened at $113.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 7.45 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.62.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 20.02%. The business had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $818.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Matson’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.96%.

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.