Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 58,432 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,232,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.20% of Matson at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MATX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $17,276,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $2,017,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,940,000 after purchasing an additional 22,516 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 887.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,441,000 after purchasing an additional 51,752 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at about $1,398,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Matson has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.33.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $223.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total value of $1,100,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 20,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total value of $527,884.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,951,625.68. The trade was a 15.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Profile

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.