Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Invests $680,000 in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new position in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth about $44,000. SouthState Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $232.33.

Matson Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MATX stock opened at $224.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $209.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.97 and a fifty-two week high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,359,574.10. This trade represents a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total transaction of $1,100,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,514,395.90. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716. Company insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

About Matson

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.