Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $27.97, but opened at $26.54. Matthews International shares last traded at $26.5550, with a volume of 5,655 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MATW. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Matthews International in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Matthews International from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Sell”.

Matthews International Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $828.11 million, a PE ratio of -33.68 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.88.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $318.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.79 million. Matthews International had a positive return on equity of 8.65% and a negative net margin of 1.63%. Research analysts expect that Matthews International Corporation will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matthews International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This is an increase from Matthews International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Matthews International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -129.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Matthews International by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,664,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,796,000 after purchasing an additional 137,015 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Matthews International by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,430,000 after buying an additional 13,194 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Matthews International by 2.3% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,417,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,412,000 after buying an additional 31,266 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Matthews International by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,075,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,887,000 after buying an additional 22,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Matthews International by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 962,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,021,000 after acquiring an additional 507,324 shares during the period. 83.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Matthews International

Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) is a diversified industrial company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company operates through two primary business segments—Brand Solutions and Memorialization—offering a broad range of products and services designed to meet the needs of industrial manufacturers, brand marketers and the funeral industry worldwide.

In its Brand Solutions segment, Matthews International provides engraving and digital printing systems, automated finishing equipment, thermal management products and electronics assembly solutions.