Convergence Investment Partners LLC Makes New $1.71 Million Investment in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 10,442 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 144.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 27.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Matson by 79.3% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,123,000 after acquiring an additional 95,796 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.05, for a total transaction of $275,196.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,708 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,757,633.40. This represents a 13.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.19, for a total value of $450,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,979,206.96. The trade was a 18.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,963 shares of company stock valued at $4,349,268. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Matson in a research note on Monday, April 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Matson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.25.

Matson Trading Up 0.1%

MATX opened at $218.62 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $195.26 and its 200-day moving average is $172.91. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.97 and a 1-year high of $230.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 1.28.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $757.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.55 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 15.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.18 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 6th. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 10.58%.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.