Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 2,948 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,948 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Matson were worth $3,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MATX. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 124.3% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 249 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 57.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, April 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.25.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $188.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.97 and a 1-year high of $192.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.18.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. Matson had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The business had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.18 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 7,173 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total transaction of $1,292,502.87. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,595,926.14. The trade was a 21.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 3,331 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $600,046.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,547 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,796.58. This represents a 25.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,672 shares of company stock valued at $4,210,279. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.