Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.10, but opened at $28.00. Matthews International shares last traded at $30.15, with a volume of 46,443 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Matthews International from $54.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 26th.

Matthews International Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $911.63 million, a P/E ratio of -15.44 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.60.

Matthews International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Matthews International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Matthews International’s dividend payout ratio is currently -51.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matthews International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MATW. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Matthews International by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,208,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,037,000 after purchasing an additional 76,911 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matthews International by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 729,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,929,000 after buying an additional 6,536 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 708,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,434,000 after acquiring an additional 55,687 shares in the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Matthews International by 18.2% in the third quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 455,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,556,000 after acquiring an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Matthews International during the third quarter worth about $2,793,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

About Matthews International

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.