Stifel Financial Corp Decreases Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,093 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 0.5% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Matson by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in Matson by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 1,663 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Matson by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 7,528 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 0.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,569,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Up 1.2 %

MATX stock opened at $138.54 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.04. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.50 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $148.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.09. 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 Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.98 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $965.73 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MATX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,254 shares in the company, valued at $686,000.04. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 6,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.82, for a total value of $934,686.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 208,898 shares in the company, valued at $30,043,710.36. This represents a 3.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,145 shares of company stock worth $2,513,455. Corporate 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.