Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CSV. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Carriage Services Price Performance

NYSE CSV opened at $46.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $724.42 million, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.88. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $42.70 and its 200 day moving average is $40.61. Carriage Services has a fifty-two week low of $25.84 and a fifty-two week high of $46.47.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.96% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business had revenue of $8.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.17 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.05%.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In other news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,508 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $140,635.72. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 81,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,262,885.01. The trade was a 4.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $362,141. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSV. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Carriage Services by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Carriage Services by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its stake in Carriage Services by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Carriage Services by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 50,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 24,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.