Artemis Investment Management LLP Has $6.41 Million Stock Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 32.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,078 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,111 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned 0.17% of Matson worth $6,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Security National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 109.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, May 24th.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $130.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $118.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $74.04 and a twelve month high of $133.53.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 12.66%. The firm had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,491,175.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,269 shares of company stock valued at $2,795,413 over the last 90 days. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.