Sei Investments Co. Buys 21,087 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 421.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 26,087 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 21,087 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Matson were worth $4,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Matson by 144.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after purchasing an additional 269,310 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after buying an additional 128,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Matson by 79.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,123,000 after buying an additional 95,796 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Grace M. Cerocke sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.57, for a total transaction of $220,284.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,986 shares in the company, valued at $3,301,690.02. This represents a 6.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,979,206.96. This represents a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268. Company insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX opened at $205.48 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $200.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.86. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.92 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 9.63%.

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.