Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,262,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 8.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,346 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,300,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Matson by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,511 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,501,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Matson by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 102,629 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,154,000 after buying an additional 6,778 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the first quarter worth $78,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 11.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 24,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,135,000 after buying an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In related news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total transaction of $527,884.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,951,625.68. This trade represents a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total transaction of $450,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,979,206.96. This trade represents a 18.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,963 shares of company stock valued at $4,349,268. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Matson to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Matson in a research report on Monday, April 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Matson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.25.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $195.26 on Tuesday. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.97 and a 12 month high of $203.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $185.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.41.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $757.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $777.55 million. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.58%.

Matson Company 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.