Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,818 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,379 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Matson by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 997 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 6.4% during the first quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,332 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,236 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.89, for a total value of $1,031,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 106,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,787,878.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total value of $1,023,825.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at $30,076,024.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.89, for a total value of $1,031,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 106,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,787,878.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,624 shares of company stock worth $8,447,299. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Matson Trading Up 0.9 %

MATX stock traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $131.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,674. The company has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 1.09. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.68 and a 12 month high of $133.88. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $125.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. Matson had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 12.66%. Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 24th.

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.