London Co. of Virginia Sells 9,927 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

London Co. of Virginia lessened its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 262,201 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 9,927 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Matson were worth $25,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Matson by 2.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,250,636 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,300,000 after buying an additional 35,229 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 27.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after buying an additional 128,994 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Matson by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 317,422 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,345,000 after acquiring an additional 19,508 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,415,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,123,000 after acquiring an additional 95,796 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 8,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.13, for a total transaction of $1,429,216.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,943,593.94. The trade was a 26.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.79, for a total transaction of $339,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,289,448.36. This trade represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,550 shares of company stock valued at $7,034,602. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $151.60 on Tuesday. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $177.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.39. 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 cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.32.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The shipping company reported $4.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 13.30%.The firm had revenue of $851.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $847.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MATX. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $167.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on shares of Matson from $190.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.