Diametric Capital LP Acquires New Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Diametric Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,489 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

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

Insider Transactions at Matson

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 value of $273,808.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MATX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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 price target on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of MATX opened at $132.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $136.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.10.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Matson’s payout ratio is 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.