Seven Eight Capital LP Lowers Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Seven Eight Capital LP lowered its stake in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 19.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,543 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 3,276 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Matson were worth $1,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MATX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Matson by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,984,076 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $447,810,000 after buying an additional 215,452 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 450.4% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 239,439 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $26,243,000 after purchasing an additional 195,939 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 3,509.3% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 188,910 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,233,000 after purchasing an additional 183,676 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter valued at $10,295,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Matson by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 293,163 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,131,000 after purchasing an additional 59,652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

MATX stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $128.82. The stock had a trading volume of 285,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 266,524. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.06. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.68 and a 52-week high of $133.88.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $722.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.44 million. Matson had a return on equity of 12.66% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 10.1 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is an increase from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Matson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total transaction of $1,151,600.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 151,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,491,175.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,825.22. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,076,024.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel M. Wine sold 8,941 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.80, for a total value of $1,151,600.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 151,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,491,175.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,180 shares of company stock valued at $5,943,909. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MATX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Matson from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Matson in a report on Friday, May 24th.

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.