Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an outperform rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, April 19th.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Carriage Services stock opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. Carriage Services has a 12-month low of $18.06 and a 12-month high of $35.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.64 million, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company had revenue of $103.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $35,505.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $42,616.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 57,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of Carriage Services 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mendel Money Management grew its position in Carriage Services by 187.5% during the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 60,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 128,648 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 741.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 208,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 319,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,979,000 after purchasing an additional 47,646 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Carriage Services by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 210,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,274,000 after acquiring an additional 39,525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Company Profile

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.