Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its stake in Matson, Inc. (NYSE:MATX) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,513 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 750 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Matson worth $2,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Matson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Matson by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 415 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matson by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. U S Global Investors Inc. now owns 997 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matson in the third quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Matson during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. 84.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Matson Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MATX opened at $109.72 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.12. Matson, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.51 and a 1 year high of $122.99.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The shipping company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.03. Matson had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $788.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $733.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Matson’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Matson, Inc. will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MATX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Matson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Matson from $108.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Matson news, SVP Christopher A. Scott sold 1,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $126,268.93. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,397,261.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.32% of the stock is currently 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.