Nuveen Asset Management LLC Purchases 107,425 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 109.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 205,782 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 107,425 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned about 0.62% of Matson worth $27,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,025,208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $542,759,000 after buying an additional 11,357 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $146,562,000 after buying an additional 106,490 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,049,772 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $141,551,000 after buying an additional 91,172 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 753,414 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $101,590,000 after buying an additional 58,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Matson by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 663,245 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $89,432,000 after buying an additional 117,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on MATX shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Matson from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.33.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of Matson stock opened at $110.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $132.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.75 and a twelve month high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $818.07 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. Matson’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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 given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 8th. Matson’s payout ratio is presently 8.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,811.28. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,682 shares of company stock worth $1,550,551. 2.05% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.