Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Cuts Holdings in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. decreased its position in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 28.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,314 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Carriage Services were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 734,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,283,000 after purchasing an additional 9,080 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 590,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 34,342 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 149,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 18,661 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

CSV opened at $43.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $689.79 million, a PE ratio of 19.71, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93. Carriage Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.84 and a twelve month high of $44.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.17 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is presently 15.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Carriage Services news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $121,800.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 75,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,081,418.20. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $362,141. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSV. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Carriage Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 11th.

Carriage Services 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.