Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Matthews International from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Matthews International currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Matthews International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MATW opened at $26.40 on Monday. Matthews International has a fifty-two week low of $18.60 and a fifty-two week high of $29.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $821.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 1.12.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.24). Matthews International had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 1.64%.The business had revenue of $284.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $282.50 million. On average, analysts expect that Matthews International will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Matthews International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Matthews International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 143.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MATW. Steel Partners Holdings L.P. bought a new position in Matthews International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,084,000. Private Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Matthews International by 201.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,605,000 after purchasing an additional 680,256 shares during the period. Simcoe Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Matthews International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,763,000. Cannell Capital LLC bought a new position in Matthews International in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,926,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Matthews International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,242,000. 83.08% of the stock is currently owned by 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.