BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Makes New $348,000 Investment in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,658 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Matson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Security National Bank acquired a new position in Matson during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Matson by 226.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 595 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:MATX opened at $134.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 1.09. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.68 and a fifty-two week high of $138.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $130.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.65.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company had revenue of $847.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $861.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 10.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 1st. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total transaction of $1,028,775.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 215,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,546,006.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 3,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.48, for a total value of $444,337.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,589,943.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.17, for a total value of $1,028,775.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 215,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,546,006.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,376 shares of company stock worth $13,429,390 over the last ninety days. 2.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on MATX shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

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.