Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 155 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,184 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,508,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,654 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Matson by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $413,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,434 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Matson by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Matson Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:MATX opened at $128.95 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.50 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.90 and a 200 day moving average of $140.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

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

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.