Bank of New York Mellon Corp Reduces Stock Position in Matson, Inc. $MATX

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,820 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 5,871 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.87% of Matson worth $43,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATX. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Matson by 144.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 455,133 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $44,872,000 after acquiring an additional 269,310 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Matson in the third quarter worth approximately $26,415,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth $17,276,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matson by 27.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 590,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $65,770,000 after acquiring an additional 128,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Matson by 79.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 216,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,123,000 after acquiring an additional 95,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MATX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Matson in a report on Monday, April 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $230.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Matson to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Grace M. Cerocke sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.57, for a total transaction of $220,284.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 17,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,301,690.02. The trade was a 6.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Laura L. Rascon sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.53, for a total transaction of $527,884.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,656 shares in the company, valued at $2,951,625.68. This represents a 15.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 23,963 shares of company stock worth $4,349,268 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.51% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

NYSE:MATX opened at $210.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.45. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.97 and a 1 year high of $230.74.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The shipping company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $757.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.55 million. Matson had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.92%.Matson’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.18 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 14.16 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 6th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 6th. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.58%.

Matson Profile

Matson, Inc (NYSE: MATX) is a U.S.-based provider of ocean transportation and supply chain logistics services with a focus on Pacific trade lanes. The company operates a fleet of container ships that regularly service Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Micronesia and other Pacific islands, as well as mainland U.S. ports. Matson’s ocean transportation segment offers scheduled liner services, expedited shipping options and specialized project cargo handling for industries ranging from retail to heavy machinery.

In addition to its core liner operations, Matson offers ocean transportation services between Asia and the U.S.