Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Buys 6,900 Shares of Matson, Inc. $MATX

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,900 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 3.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,402 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Matson by 21.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 485 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Matson by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 30,624 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Matson by 0.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,749 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Matson in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stephens raised their price objective on Matson from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Freedom Broker began coverage on Matson in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Matson from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, EVP Peter T. Heilmann sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.15, for a total value of $1,100,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 20,506 shares in the company, valued at $4,514,395.90. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Vic S. Angoco, Jr. sold 2,293 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.76, for a total value of $510,788.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,786,059.32. This trade represents a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 7,893 shares of company stock worth $1,743,479 in the last 90 days. 2.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

NYSE MATX opened at $212.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $195.13. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.98 and a twelve month high of $240.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The shipping company reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.27 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.07 billion. Matson had a net margin of 14.58% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.24 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 18.90 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, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 5th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.60%.

Matson Company Profile

Matson, Inc. is a transportation company focused on ocean shipping and logistics. Founded in 1882 by Captain William Matson, the company has a long history of connecting communities and businesses across the Pacific. Matson provides ocean transportation services to Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia, and the South Pacific, as well as a service linking China with the U.S. West Coast. Its operations include container shipping and the transport of goods such as vehicles and other cargo. Through its logistics business, Matson also offers freight forwarding, intermodal transportation, and supply chain services.