Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Grows Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 6.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,918 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,328 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Matson were worth $9,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 64.3% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 17,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,983 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $2,370,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,067 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,166,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $269,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 103,398 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,942,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $629,136.68. The trade was a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,811.28. The trade was a 10.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock opened at $112.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.61. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.75 and a twelve month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $818.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 EPS. Matson’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s payout ratio is 8.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MATX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.33.

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.