Man Group plc Acquires New Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 42,643 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,197,000. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.14% of Matson at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth $653,000. J. Goldman & Co LP bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the second quarter valued at about $8,979,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,878,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Matson in the second quarter worth approximately $231,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the second quarter valued at $11,232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other Matson news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total value of $527,884.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,625.68. The trade was a 15.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 1,917 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $399,675.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,630 shares in the company, valued at $1,590,778.70. The trade was a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 15,262 shares of company stock worth $3,223,716 over the last three months. 2.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MATX. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

Matson Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MATX opened at $224.51 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.97 and a 52 week high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $969.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $893.91 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 13.41%.Matson’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 10.16%.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.