WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 2,115 Shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

WINTON GROUP Ltd decreased its holdings in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,035 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,115 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Matson were worth $679,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MATX. IFP Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Matson during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $111,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Matson by 339.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 901 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Matson by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. 84.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Matson from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Matson Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of MATX stock opened at $127.04 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57 and a beta of 1.05. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.50 and a 1 year high of $169.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.08.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.60. Matson had a return on equity of 16.89% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.78 million. On average, research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 13.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.69%.

Insider Activity

In other Matson 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,151.75. The trade was a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total transaction of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. This trade represents a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

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.