Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Shares Gap Up to $26.88

Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $26.88, but opened at $29.08. Matthews International shares last traded at $29.48, with a volume of 29,585 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MATW shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Matthews International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Matthews International from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th.

Matthews International Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $877.14 million, a P/E ratio of 26.97 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.29.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The business had revenue of $449.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.77 million. Matthews International had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 16.67%. On average, analysts expect that Matthews International Co. will post 2.6 EPS for the current year.

Matthews International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. Matthews International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.57%.

Institutional Trading of Matthews International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 18.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 14,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Matthews International by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 587,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,259,000 after purchasing an additional 117,461 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Matthews International by 267.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $706,000 after purchasing an additional 14,030 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 142,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,213,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millrace Asset Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Matthews International in the fourth quarter worth $1,701,000. 83.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Matthews International Company Profile

Matthews International Corporation provides brand solutions, memorialization products, and industrial technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Memorialization, Industrial Technologies, and SGK Brand Solutions. The Memorialization segment provides bronze and granite memorials, upright granite memorials and monuments, concrete burial vaults, cremation memorialization products, granite benches, flower vases, crypt plates and letters, cremation urns, niche units, cemetery features, and statues, as well as bronze plaques, letters, emblems, vases, lights and photo ceramics, granite monuments, mausoleums, crypts, and flush memorials.