Matson, Inc. $MATX Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners decreased its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 65.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 333,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 624,326 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners’ holdings in Matson were worth $37,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Matson by 67.1% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. State of Wyoming raised its position in shares of Matson by 495.3% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 381 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Matson by 42.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 442 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Matson in the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $110.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.33. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.97 and a 12-month high of $169.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $4.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $880.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $837.72 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%.Matson’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MATX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Matson in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Matson from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $142.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Matson in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matson from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.75.

Matson 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.