HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 5,457 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,736 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 5,457 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Matson worth $2,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MATX. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after purchasing an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Matson by 79.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,123,000 after buying an additional 95,796 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth $10,199,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Matson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,481,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Trading Down 1.5%

MATX stock opened at $165.96 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $177.51. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $148.53 and its 200 day moving average is $120.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a net margin of 13.30% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.30 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.80 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s payout ratio is 10.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MATX shares. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.25.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.