Legal & General Group Plc Acquires 144 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.22% of Matson worth $9,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MATX. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 346,589 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,734,000 after acquiring an additional 108,774 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Matson by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,890 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Matson by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 56,183 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,576,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 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 dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MATX stock opened at $98.29 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.87 and a 200-day moving average of $138.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.12. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.72 and a 12 month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MATX shares. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

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.