Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Takes $79,000 Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 600 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Security National Bank bought a new position in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Matson by 226.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 595 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

Matson Price Performance

MATX opened at $131.31 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.68 and a 52 week high of $138.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total value of $1,151,600.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,491,175.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,274,776.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,175.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 104,376 shares of company stock valued at $13,565,120 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

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.