3,168 Shares in Matson, Inc. $MATX Acquired by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,168 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,276,000. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $2,017,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 12.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 200,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,940,000 after buying an additional 22,516 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Matson by 887.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $9,441,000 after buying an additional 51,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Matson Trading Down 2.5%

MATX stock opened at $219.09 on Wednesday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.48. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. 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 firm posted $2.92 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $399,675.33. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,590,778.70. This trade represents a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total value of $510,788.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,786,059.32. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.