MML Investors Services LLC Makes New $249,000 Investment in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,748 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Matson by 0.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in Matson by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Matson by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Matson by 0.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $686,000.04. This represents a 10.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 6,499 shares of Matson stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $934,686.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 208,898 shares in the company, valued at $30,043,710.36. This trade represents a 3.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,145 shares of company stock worth $2,513,455 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $139.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.04. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.50 and a 52-week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.40 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Matson’s payout ratio is 11.31%.

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.