Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,804 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Matson worth $3,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Matson by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Matson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Matson by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Matson by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens increased their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Matson Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MATX stock opened at $132.36 on Wednesday. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.50 and a 1-year high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.09.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. 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.