Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Decreases Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,431,486 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 110,702 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 6.96% of Matson worth $318,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MATX. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Matson during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Matson during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Security National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Matson by 226.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 595 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MATX. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,392 shares in the company, valued at $1,274,776.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.62, for a total transaction of $215,796.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,973 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,352.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 104,376 shares of company stock worth $13,565,120. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $131.39 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $130.61 and a 200 day moving average of $120.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.07. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.68 and a 12 month high of $138.84.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $847.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $861.68 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.