Versor Investments LP Purchases New Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,692 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $902,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Matson by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 14,083 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC increased 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 worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in Matson by 127.5% in the 4th quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,182 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 6,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navellier & Associates Inc. increased its position in Matson by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Navellier & Associates Inc. now owns 2,401 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MATX. Wolfe Research lowered Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX opened at $140.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $139.52 and a 200-day moving average of $141.11. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.50 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Matson’s payout ratio is 11.31%.

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.