Matson, Inc. $MATX Stock Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 31.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,860 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,899 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Matson worth $10,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 2,403 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,098 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $900,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth $401,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 80.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 392 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 179.3% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,455 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,218 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Freedom Broker assumed coverage on Matson in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Stephens upped their target price on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Matson from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.25.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $221.34 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $227.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.33. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $97.63 and a one year high of $240.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

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

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP Peter Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vic Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total value of $510,788.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,786,059.32. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containerized and bulk cargo, automobiles and other goods between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and selected South Pacific destinations. Matson also operates services linking the U.S. West Coast with China, Japan and South Korea.

The company serves a broad range of customers, including retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, government agencies and individual consumers.