Verity Asset Management Inc. Buys New Shares in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,087 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Boston Partners raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 775,600 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $21,037,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth about $23,325,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter worth about $14,183,000. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter worth about $11,535,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $99.88 on Tuesday. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.97. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 1.21.

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 paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MATX. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

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

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.