New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,939 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Matson by 10.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 286,968 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $40,927,000 after buying an additional 26,366 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Matson by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 182,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $24,707,000 after acquiring an additional 8,704 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Matson during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,328,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Matson by 7.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth about $512,000. Institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Price Performance

MATX stock opened at $131.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $136.63 and a 200-day moving average of $141.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.05. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.50 and a 12 month 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.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The shipping company reported $3.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $890.30 million during 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s payout ratio is 9.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on MATX. 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Matson from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Matson news, EVP John P. Lauer sold 7,985 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.73, for a total value of $1,075,819.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,394,118.16. The trade was a 24.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard S. Kinney sold 1,997 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.11, for a total transaction of $273,808.67. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,155,151.75. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.

Matson 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.