Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Has $4.78 Million Stock Holdings in Matthews International Corporation $MATW

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. significantly increased its holdings in Matthews International Corporation by 421.5%, acquiring an additional 173,614 shares during the 1st quarter, raising its ownership to $4.78 million.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded Matthews International from a "sell" to a "hold" rating, with an average target price set at $40.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting a 4.0% dividend yield based on an annualized yield.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its position in Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW - Free Report) by 421.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,808 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 173,614 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned about 0.69% of Matthews International worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Matthews International by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,854,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,328,000 after purchasing an additional 168,970 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Matthews International by 3.7% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,248,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,775,000 after purchasing an additional 44,055 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Matthews International by 19.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 929,753 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,352,000 after purchasing an additional 148,161 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Matthews International by 12.0% in the first quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 654,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,546,000 after purchasing an additional 70,078 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Matthews International by 1,696.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 455,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,126,000 after purchasing an additional 430,125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.08% of the company's stock.

Matthews International Price Performance

Matthews International stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.36. 298,485 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 173,088. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.68. Matthews International Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.50 and a 12 month high of $32.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $750.04 million, a PE ratio of -11.49 and a beta of 1.27.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.05). Matthews International had a positive return on equity of 9.15% and a negative net margin of 4.01%.The business had revenue of $349.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $321.95 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Matthews International Corporation will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Matthews International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Matthews International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -47.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Matthews International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

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.