Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $10.60 Million Stock Holdings in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 18.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 273,491 shares of the company’s stock after selling 60,109 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Carriage Services were worth $10,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,566,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Carriage Services by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 590,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,548,000 after buying an additional 65,358 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Carriage Services by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,454,000 after buying an additional 34,342 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 81,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after buying an additional 24,345 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,698,000 after buying an additional 24,098 shares during the period. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Carriage Services Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE CSV opened at $45.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $708.39 million, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.89. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.78 and a 52-week high of $47.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.49.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $8.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.17 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 21.96%. Equities analysts forecast that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

In other news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of Carriage Services 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 owned 75,897 shares in the company, valued at $3,081,418.20. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,840 shares of company stock valued at $237,784. Insiders own 2.60% 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.