Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $38.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Carriage Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Carriage Services Trading Up 1.8 %

CSV stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.00. 127,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 93,179. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.40 and a 200-day moving average of $24.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. Carriage Services has a 1 year low of $18.06 and a 1 year high of $35.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.64 million, a PE ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.87.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 8.08%. The firm had revenue of $103.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is 22.17%.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $35,505.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,099,300.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $35,505.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 202.9% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 51,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 34,178 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Carriage Services in the first quarter worth $27,000. Mendel Money Management grew its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 187.5% in the first quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 60,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after acquiring an additional 128,648 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 741.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 87,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after acquiring an additional 77,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Carriage Services by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 76,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after purchasing an additional 13,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

About Carriage Services

Carriage Services, Inc provides funeral and cemetery services, and merchandise in the United States. It operates in two segments, Funeral Home Operations and Cemetery Operations. The Funeral Home Operations segment provides consultation services; funeral home facilities for visitation and memorial services; transportation services; removal and preparation of remains; sale of caskets and urns; cremation services; and related funeral merchandise.