Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Shares Acquired by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,083 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,246 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Matson by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 4.2% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Matson by 6.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Matson stock opened at $144.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.50 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $4.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.05.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.78 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MATX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

About Matson

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.