Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $310,000 Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Matson were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Matson by 339.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Matson by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Matson by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MATX. Stephens boosted their target price on Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $129.96 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.05. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $100.50 and a one year high of $169.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $141.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 9.69%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.