Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,824 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $3,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 13.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,902 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $10,203,000 after purchasing an additional 9,351 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Matson by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,414 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Matson by 99.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 17,322 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,246,000 after buying an additional 8,634 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Matson during the second quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth $3,700,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX stock opened at $136.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.50 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.07.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.98 by $0.91. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $965.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 6th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MATX. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,254 shares in the company, valued at $686,000.04. This trade represents a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total value of $124,125.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,109,297.50. This trade represents a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,646 shares of company stock valued at $1,578,768 over the last three months. 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.