Matson, Inc. $MATX Shares Acquired by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 45,745 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,860 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Matson were worth $7,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Amundi increased its stake in Matson by 26.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 4,821 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 30.9% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,506 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 15.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,744,000 after buying an additional 3,090 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth about $32,761,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 0.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,749 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,418,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Matson in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Matson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Matson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.25.

Matson Stock Down 0.9%

Matson stock opened at $201.24 on Thursday. 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 $230.74. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.79 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $198.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.33.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $757.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.55 million. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.Matson’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total value of $527,884.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,625.68. This trade represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 3,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $600,046.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,719,796.58. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268. Company insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Matson 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.