Gotham Asset Management LLC Has $1.99 Million Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 298.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,771 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,068 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Matson by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MATX. Stephens dropped their target price on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.33.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $115.88 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.75 and a 52-week high of $169.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $113.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.87. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.96%.

Insider Activity 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,682 shares of company stock worth $1,550,551. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson 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.