AdvisorShares Investments LLC Boosts Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 23.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,030 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Matson by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,158,834 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $148,528,000 after buying an additional 71,902 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Matson by 424.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 958,170 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $121,428,000 after acquiring an additional 775,600 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 1.0% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 603,634 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $77,368,000 after acquiring an additional 6,135 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 10.9% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 461,769 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $59,188,000 after acquiring an additional 45,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Matson by 2.0% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 352,746 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $45,212,000 after acquiring an additional 6,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,044 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.94, for a total transaction of $114,777.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,477,703.54. This represents a 7.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Matson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.67.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $97.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.88. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a PE ratio of 6.57 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.The firm had revenue of $830.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 6th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.74%.

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.