Summit Global Investments Takes Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in Matson in the third quarter worth about $30,000. SouthState Bank Corp bought a new stake in Matson in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Matson by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 258 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MATX opened at $217.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.55. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $86.97 and a one year high of $230.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The shipping company reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $969.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $893.91 million. Matson had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 16.94%. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.92 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Jennifer C. Tungul sold 402 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total transaction of $83,812.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 5,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,083.48. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kuuhaku T. Park sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.49, for a total value of $208,490.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,081,564.16. This represents a 9.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 10,089 shares of company stock worth $1,975,717 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MATX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Matson from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Matson from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Matson from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $232.33.

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.