Royce & Associates LP Sells 2,867 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Royce & Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,929 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,867 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Matson were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Matson by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $40,927,000 after acquiring an additional 26,366 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Matson by 43.5% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,382 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 4,361 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Matson by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $512,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Trading Down 0.6 %

MATX opened at $128.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $137.90 and its 200-day moving average is $140.95. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

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.