Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 500 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Matson were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 339.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Matson by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MATX opened at $129.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.50 and a 1 year high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. On average, analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

About Matson

Matson, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of ocean transportation and logistics services. It operates through two segments, Ocean Transportation and Logistics. The Ocean Transportation segment offers ocean freight transportation services to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and Guam, as well as to other island economies in Micronesia.