Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,792,325 shares, an increase of 32.8% from the November 30th total of 2,102,633 shares. Currently, 9.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 286,238 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.8 days. Based on an average daily volume of 286,238 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.8 days. Currently, 9.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Matthews International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 9.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,664,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,796,000 after acquiring an additional 137,015 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Matthews International by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,500,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,430,000 after acquiring an additional 13,194 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of Matthews International by 2.3% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,417,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,412,000 after purchasing an additional 31,266 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Matthews International by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,053,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,346,000 after acquiring an additional 53,035 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 111.4% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 962,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,021,000 after acquiring an additional 507,324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Matthews International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Matthews International Stock Down 1.1%

Matthews International stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.47. The stock had a trading volume of 108,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 283,328. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.38. Matthews International has a fifty-two week low of $18.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.28 million, a PE ratio of -33.51 and a beta of 1.20.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 21st. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.28. Matthews International had a positive return on equity of 8.65% and a negative net margin of 1.63%.The firm had revenue of $318.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.79 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Matthews International will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Matthews International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.255 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Matthews International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Matthews International’s payout ratio is presently -129.11%.

Matthews International Company Profile

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.