PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 3,135 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,574 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 3,135 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 144.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 27.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in Matson by 79.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,123,000 after acquiring an additional 95,796 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised Matson to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Matson in a report on Monday, April 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 price objective for the company. Three 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.33.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $202.30 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $199.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.01.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.55 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total transaction of $450,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,979,206.96. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 3,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $600,046.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,547 shares in the company, valued at $1,719,796.58. This trade represents a 25.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268 in the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is owned by company 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.