Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $25.49, but opened at $29.75. Matthews International shares last traded at $31.11, with a volume of 113,004 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, B. Riley cut their price target 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 Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $943.70 million, a PE ratio of -15.98 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $23.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.25.

Matthews International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Matthews International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Matthews International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -49.74%.

Institutional Trading of Matthews International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Matthews International in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,793,000. State Street Corp increased its position 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Matthews International by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,619,317 shares of the company's stock worth $112,488,000 after purchasing an additional 76,752 shares during the last quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. increased its position in Matthews International by 18.2% during the third quarter. Barington Capital Group L.P. now owns 455,000 shares of the company's stock worth $10,556,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Matthews International by 11.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 652,665 shares of the company's stock worth $16,349,000 after purchasing an additional 65,188 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.08% of the company's stock.

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.