Matson, Inc. $MATX Holdings Lifted by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 421.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,087 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,087 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Matson worth $4,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,276,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $2,017,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 887.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,441,000 after buying an additional 51,752 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its holdings in Matson by 2,944.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 57,850 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,703,000 after buying an additional 55,950 shares during the period. Finally, Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 1st quarter valued at $1,712,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Down 3.7%

NYSE MATX opened at $205.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $200.68 and a 200-day moving average of $178.86.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. The business had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.92 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.63%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total value of $275,196.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,757,633.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total value of $450,475.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,979,206.96. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268. 2.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research raised Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stephens increased their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.