Matson, Inc. $MATX Shares Bought by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 887.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 51,752 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $9,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MATX. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after buying an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Matson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Matson by 27.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Matson in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $194.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $203.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.52. The firm has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 1.29.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.55 million. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.Matson’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.18 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total transaction of $275,196.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,708 shares in the company, valued at $1,757,633.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total transaction of $450,475.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,979,206.96. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 23,963 shares of company stock valued at $4,349,268 over the last ninety days. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MATX. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Matson in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Matson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.25.

About Matson

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.