Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Matthews International in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Matthews International Stock Performance

Matthews International stock opened at $23.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.58. The company has a market cap of $739.44 million, a P/E ratio of -25.48 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Matthews International has a fifty-two week low of $21.95 and a fifty-two week high of $30.93.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $246.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.54 million. Matthews International had a negative net margin of 2.65% and a positive return on equity of 4.46%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Matthews International will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Matthews International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.255 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Matthews International’s dividend payout ratio is 329.03%.

Institutional Trading of Matthews International

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MATW. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Matthews International by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,614,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,677,000 after buying an additional 83,860 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 151,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,962,000 after acquiring an additional 47,246 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 223.6% during the 4th quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 29,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 20,070 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Matthews International in the fourth quarter worth $679,000. Finally, Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Matthews International during the fourth quarter worth $1,583,000. 83.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.