JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 36,156 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 323,124 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,156 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.97% of Matson worth $43,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 339.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Matson by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Matson by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE MATX opened at $112.26 on Monday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.50 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MATX. Stephens raised their price objective on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

About Matson

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.