Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 509 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,069 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Matson were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Convergence Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Matson in the 1st quarter worth about $585,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Matson by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 28,644 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Matson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $351,000. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Matson during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $872,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Matson by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,081 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $6,803,000 after acquiring an additional 6,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $105.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.45. Matson, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $91.75 and a fifty-two week high of $169.12.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.18 by $0.74. The business had revenue of $830.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $727.30 million. Matson had a return on equity of 18.90% and a net margin of 14.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is 9.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, Director Bradley D. Tilden purchased 2,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $111.76 per share, with a total value of $307,563.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.47, for a total value of $55,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $629,136.68. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Matson from $160.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Matson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Matson in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Matson from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.