Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 3,509.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 183,676 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Matson were worth $21,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Matson by 25.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 12,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 10.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 19,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson by 71.0% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,036 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,038,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 69.6% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,875 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MATX. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Matson Stock Down 0.6 %

Matson stock traded down $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.53. The company had a trading volume of 309,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,479. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.97. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.69 and a 12 month high of $133.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.09.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 12,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.24, for a total value of $1,580,060.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 126,418 shares in the company, valued at $15,579,754.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 893 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.60, for a total transaction of $98,765.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,492,547. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 12,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.24, for a total value of $1,580,060.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 126,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,579,754.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,180 shares of company stock worth $5,943,909 over the last quarter. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Matson Company Profile

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.