Trexquant Investment LP Cuts Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,157 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 1,742 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.22% of Matson worth $9,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diametric Capital LP purchased a new stake in Matson in the 4th quarter worth $201,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $2,705,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 58,367 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,870,000 after buying an additional 8,462 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,704,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Matson by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 5,260 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Matson

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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 boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $132.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $136.52 and its 200 day moving average is $141.10. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.50 and a fifty-two 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The business had revenue of $890.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.69%.

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.