Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Shares Purchased by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 339.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 696 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 4,167,726.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 958,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $136,716,000 after buying an additional 958,577 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,788,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,735,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,746,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $133.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.50 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.36. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Matson 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.