Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,183 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,734 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Matson were worth $7,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Matson by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,766 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Matson by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Matson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 28,170 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,798,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Matson by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of Matson stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares in the company, valued at $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on MATX shares. 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 increased their price target on shares of Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE MATX opened at $101.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $130.83 and its 200 day moving average is $139.21. Matson, Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.84 and a twelve month high of $169.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million for 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%. Research analysts forecast that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

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

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.