Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,431,486 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 110,702 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Matson worth $318,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Matson by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 64,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,014,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Matson by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,322 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 5,095 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Matson by 18.1% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 282,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $31,783,000 after purchasing an additional 43,324 shares during the last quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matson during the first quarter valued at approximately $605,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 579.8% in the fourth quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 16,819 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,843,000 after purchasing an additional 14,345 shares during the last quarter. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total transaction of $135,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,274,776.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Matson news, SVP Jason Lee Taylor sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.73, for a total value of $135,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,392 shares in the company, valued at $1,274,776.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew J. Cox sold 7,843 shares of Matson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.54, for a total transaction of $1,023,825.22. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,076,024.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,376 shares of company stock valued at $13,565,120 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MATX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Matson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Matson from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Matson Price Performance

MATX opened at $131.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.49 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.63. Matson, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.68 and a 52-week high of $138.84.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $3.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.26. Matson had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The business had revenue of $847.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $861.68 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current year.

Matson Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This is a positive change from Matson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Matson’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

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.