Zacks Research Downgrades Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) to Strong Sell

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

MATW has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Matthews International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Matthews International in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Matthews International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MATW opened at $23.50 on Monday. Matthews International has a one year low of $21.95 and a one year high of $30.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.61 and a 200-day moving average of $26.53. The company has a market capitalization of $733.43 million, a PE ratio of -25.27 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.35). The company had revenue of $246.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.54 million. Matthews International had a positive return on equity of 4.51% and a negative net margin of 2.65%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Matthews International will post 0.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Matthews International

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MATW. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Matthews International by 9.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,664,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,796,000 after buying an additional 137,015 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 83,860 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Matthews International by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,554,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,593,000 after acquiring an additional 136,794 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Matthews International by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,100,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,832,000 after acquiring an additional 25,478 shares during the period. Finally, Private Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Matthews International by 201.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Capital Management LLC now owns 1,018,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,605,000 after acquiring an additional 680,256 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.08% of the company’s stock.

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.