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

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

Separately, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Shares of CSV stock opened at $38.02 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.14 and its 200-day moving average is $37.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $595.01 million, a PE ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.91. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $23.20 and a 52 week high of $42.75.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $97.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.72 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is 21.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Carriage Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,566,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Carriage Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $282,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 115,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,587,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 94.6% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 15,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,045 shares during the last quarter. 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.