Cerity Partners LLC Has $338,000 Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,637 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Matson were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Matson by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 586 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Matson by 67.7% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its position in Matson by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,598 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Matson by 11.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,373 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $176,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its position in Matson by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,936 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.19, for a total transaction of $200,923.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,811.28. This trade represents a 10.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Bradley D. Tilden bought 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 8,180 shares in the company, valued at $914,196.80. The trade was a 50.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Matson Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of MATX opened at $109.47 on Monday. Matson, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.75 and a 52 week high of $169.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $111.60 and a 200-day moving average of $120.53.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The shipping company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $818.07 million. Matson had a return on equity of 20.02% and a net margin of 14.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MATX. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Stephens cut their target price on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.67.

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.