Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Steven D. Metzger Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total value of $121,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 75,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,418.20. This represents a 3.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Carriage Services Trading Up 0.0 %

Carriage Services stock opened at $40.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $640.37 million, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.53 and a 1 year high of $42.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.68 and its 200-day moving average is $39.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $8.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.17 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is 15.05%.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Carriage Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the first quarter valued at $48,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in Carriage Services in the first quarter worth $93,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Carriage Services by 8,246.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216 shares in the last quarter. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

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.