National Bank of Canada FI Reduces Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 67.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,235 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,573 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Matson were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Matson by 339.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Matson by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Matson by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. This represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Trading Down 5.4 %

MATX opened at $102.02 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $98.98 and a 52 week high of $169.12. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.69%.

About Matson

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.