BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Takes Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after purchasing an additional 215,452 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 3,509.3% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,233,000 after buying an additional 183,676 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,295,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Matson by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,131,000 after buying an additional 59,652 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Matson by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $291,386,000 after buying an additional 43,846 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,491,175.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,329 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,175.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 12,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.73, for a total transaction of $1,568,435.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 139,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,063,475.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,376 shares of company stock worth $13,429,390 over the last ninety days. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Matson Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $134.64 on Wednesday. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.68 and a 52-week high of $138.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.65.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $861.68 million. Analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

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.