Highland Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Highland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,239 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $319,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Matson by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $447,810,000 after purchasing an additional 215,452 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Matson by 3,509.3% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,233,000 after acquiring an additional 183,676 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 126.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 240,117 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,448,000 after acquiring an additional 134,092 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 356,416 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,680,000 after acquiring an additional 122,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Matson by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 232,455 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,445,000 after acquiring an additional 77,731 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their price target on Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $133.31 on Monday. Matson, Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.68 and a 1-year high of $144.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $135.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.07.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 10.41%. The company had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $861.68 million. On average, research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 3,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.94, for a total transaction of $468,480.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 95,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,689,123. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.37, for a total value of $1,000,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,727,772.89. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 3,524 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.94, for a total value of $468,480.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 95,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,689,123. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,736 shares of company stock valued at $5,617,854 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.32% 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.