Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) Shares Purchased by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,651 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Matson were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MATX. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Matson by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,824 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Matson by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $401,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Paradiem LLC raised its stake in Matson by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Paradiem LLC now owns 90,036 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $12,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Matson by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,645 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in Matson in the fourth quarter valued at $9,788,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.76% of the company’s stock.

Matson Stock Performance

Matson stock opened at $139.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Matson, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.50 and a 12 month high of $169.12. The company has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.94 and its 200-day moving average is $139.47.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $5.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.98 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $962.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $965.73 million. Matson had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 16.89%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.40 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Matson, Inc. will post 13.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Matson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 6th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 6th. Matson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MATX. Wolfe Research downgraded Matson from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Matson in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Matson

In other news, SVP Leonard P. Isotoff sold 492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.26, for a total value of $79,339.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000.04. The trade was a 10.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John Warren Sullivan sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.50, for a total transaction of $124,125.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,745 shares in the company, valued at $2,109,297.50. The trade was a 5.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,646 shares of company stock worth $1,578,768 in the last 90 days. 2.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.