Matson's largest shareholder is strengthening its position in the Jones Act boxship player.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made on Thursday, investment giant BlackRock upped its stake in the Hawaiian company to 15.1% by buying more than half a million shares.
BlackRock now owns 6.4 million shares in Matson, up from 5.8 million.
The New York-based firm is the largest shareholder by more than two million shares, ahead of Vanguard, which recently upped its ownership to 4.3 million shares, and T Rowe Price's 3.5 million.
Matson shares were up a cent to $33.64 in afternoon trading on Thursday.
The company has not announced a reporting date for its fourth-quarter results, but raised its outlook for its ocean transportation segment in November.
