Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 17,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Matson during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Matson by 109.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. bought a new position in Matson during the third quarter worth about $78,000. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $126,268.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,397,261.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Matson stock opened at $104.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Matson, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.51 and a 12-month high of $122.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $110.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.49.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.03. Matson had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $788.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $733.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 8th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 7th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 15.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

About Matson

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.