Matthews International (MATW) Competitors

Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) and Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) are both small-cap specialized consumer services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, HI or MATW?

Matthews International has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Matthews International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hillenbrand	$3.18B	0.60	-$211M	-$0.25	-108.80
Matthews International	$1.63B	0.47	-$59.66M	-$2.12	-11.63

Which has more risk and volatility, HI or MATW?

Hillenbrand has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Matthews International has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of HI or MATW?

89.1% of Hillenbrand shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of Matthews International shares are held by institutional investors. 2.0% of Hillenbrand shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.1% of Matthews International shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HI or MATW more profitable?

Hillenbrand has a net margin of -0.63% compared to Matthews International's net margin of -4.01%. Hillenbrand's return on equity of 13.53% beat Matthews International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hillenbrand	-0.63%	13.53%	3.82%
Matthews International	-4.01%	9.15%	2.27%

Do analysts rate HI or MATW?

Hillenbrand presently has a consensus price target of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.65%. Given Hillenbrand's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Hillenbrand is more favorable than Matthews International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hillenbrand	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Matthews International	1 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.00

Does the media refer more to HI or MATW?

In the previous week, Matthews International had 4 more articles in the media than Hillenbrand. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Matthews International and 4 mentions for Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat Matthews International's score of 0.33 indicating that Hillenbrand is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hillenbrand	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Matthews International	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is HI or MATW a better dividend stock?

Hillenbrand pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Matthews International pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Hillenbrand pays out -360.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Matthews International pays out -47.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hillenbrand has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years and Matthews International has increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years. Matthews International is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Hillenbrand beats Matthews International on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.