Short Interest in Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW) Increases By 18.5%

Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 679,400 shares, an increase of 18.5% from the June 15th total of 573,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 153,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matthews International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Matthews International in the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Matthews International by 73.9% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 24,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 10,304 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Matthews International by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 68,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Matthews International by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 144,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,072,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,347,000 after acquiring an additional 11,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

Matthews International Stock Performance

Shares of Matthews International stock traded up $1.74 on Tuesday, reaching $27.35. 163,340 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 159,448. The firm has a market capitalization of $839.92 million, a PE ratio of 25.80 and a beta of 1.11. Matthews International has a 1-year low of $23.30 and a 1-year high of $48.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $26.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $471.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.38 million. Matthews International had a return on equity of 16.75% and a net margin of 1.77%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Matthews International will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matthews International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. Matthews International’s payout ratio is 90.57%.

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.