Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,200 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 200.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,800 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Matson were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Matson in the 1st quarter worth $71,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

Matson Price Performance

Matson stock opened at $153.18 on Monday. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.94 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.06.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.98 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $965.73 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. Matson’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Matson’s payout ratio is 11.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 6,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $934,686.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 208,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,043,710.36. The trade was a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. The trade was a 9.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,145 shares of company stock valued at $2,649,185 over the last quarter. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson 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.