Sei Investments Co. Buys 280 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,552 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Matson were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,086,932 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $146,562,000 after purchasing an additional 106,490 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $451,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Matson by 37.7% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 22,804 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after buying an additional 6,249 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matson by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,654 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total value of $273,808.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Matson Stock Performance

Shares of MATX stock opened at $102.02 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a one year low of $98.98 and a one year high of $169.12. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.50 and its 200 day moving average is $139.50.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. Sell-side analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Matson’s payout ratio is 9.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson 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.