Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW) Sets New 52-Week Low at $27.31

Shares of Matthews International Co. (NASDAQ:MATW - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $27.31 and last traded at $27.53, with a volume of 20355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MATW. StockNews.com lowered Matthews International from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. B. Riley dropped their price target on Matthews International from $61.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th.

Matthews International Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $844.31 million, a PE ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.78.

Matthews International (NASDAQ:MATW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37. Matthews International had a return on equity of 16.44% and a net margin of 1.77%. The firm had revenue of $449.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.77 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Matthews International Co. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Matthews International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 19th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Matthews International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Matthews International's payout ratio is 90.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Matthews International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Matthews International by 0.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 35,318 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Matthews International by 92.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 854 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Matthews International by 2.1% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 19,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Matthews International by 97.7% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 858 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Matthews International by 7.8% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,969 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.