The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $3.07 Million Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,981 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,072,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MATX. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,021,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Matson by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,880 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total transaction of $527,884.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,951,625.68. This represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,359,574.10. This trade represents a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716 in the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of Matson stock opened at $219.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $210.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $893.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MATX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Matson has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.