Matson, Inc. $MATX Stock Bought by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,860 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 11,899 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $10,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth $952,903,000. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 12,239.4% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 233,584 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,304,000 after buying an additional 231,691 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at about $50,637,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at about $45,796,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter worth about $38,066,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MATX opened at $221.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.39. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $97.63 and a twelve month high of $240.87.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

Insider Activity at Matson

In other news, SVP Ku‘uhaku Park sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $208,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,564.16. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Scott sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total value of $131,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,944.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,462 shares of company stock valued at $2,695,832 in the last quarter. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Matson in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Matson from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Stephens lifted their price target on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $249.25.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides ocean shipping and supply chain services. Through its Matson Navigation subsidiary, the company transports containerized and bulk cargo, automobiles and other goods between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and selected South Pacific destinations. Matson also operates services linking the U.S. West Coast with China, Japan and South Korea.

The company serves a broad range of customers, including retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, government agencies and individual consumers.