O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $7.87 Million Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,367 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,462 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $7,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Matson by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $40,927,000 after buying an additional 26,366 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Matson by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,707,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth about $4,328,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at about $512,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MATX. Stephens lifted their target price on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $131.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $136.63 and its 200-day moving average is $141.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a PE ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.05. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.50 and a 1 year high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. Equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% 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.