Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,090 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Matson were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Matson by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,927,000 after purchasing an additional 26,366 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Matson by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,707,000 after buying an additional 8,704 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Matson by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,437,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Matson in the 3rd quarter worth $512,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at $258,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $133.07 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07 and a beta of 1.05. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.50 and a 52 week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. On average, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MATX shares. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% 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.