ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,830 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.18% of Matson worth $8,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Matson by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Matson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MATX shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Matson presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.33.

Matson Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Matson stock opened at $114.81 on Friday. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.75 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $113.18 and a 200 day moving average of $133.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Matson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.96%.

Insider Transactions at Matson

In related news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This represents a 19.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total value of $200,923.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,811.28. This represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,682 shares of company stock valued at $1,550,551. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson Company Profile

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.