Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 301 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,697 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MATX. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Matson by 450.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 239,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,243,000 after buying an additional 195,939 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the third quarter valued at $14,074,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 11.2% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 653,613 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,989,000 after buying an additional 65,736 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the third quarter valued at $4,347,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 170.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 70,561 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,260,000 after buying an additional 44,477 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,261.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.48, for a total transaction of $314,944.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,746 shares in the company, valued at $533,830.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st.

Matson Price Performance

MATX opened at $111.83 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $108.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.59. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.21 and a 1 year high of $122.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 1.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.05. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company had revenue of $722.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Matson’s payout ratio is 15.09%.

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.