Northern Trust Corp Buys 61,204 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 484,432 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61,204 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in Matson were worth $65,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Matson by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,244,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Matson by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $93.27 on Wednesday. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $92.90 and a one year high of $169.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.11.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MATX shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens dropped their price target on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % 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.

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.