Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Invests $1.51 Million in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,864 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Matson in the second quarter valued at about $609,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,871 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,357,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $449,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Matson during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,491,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 0.1%

MATX stock opened at $224.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 1.27. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.97 and a twelve month high of $230.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $209.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher A. Scott sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.90, for a total transaction of $131,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,354 shares in the company, valued at $2,056,944.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.30, for a total transaction of $260,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,359,574.10. The trade was a 16.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,262 shares of company stock valued at $3,223,716. 2.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Matson

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.