Carriage Services’ (CSV) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $31.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Carriage Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barrington Research reissued an outperform rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday.

Carriage Services Stock Up 1.4 %

CSV stock opened at $26.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.64 million, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $18.06 and a 52 week high of $35.59.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $103.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.17 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 22.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Carriage Services news, Director Melvin C. Payne sold 3,524 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $90,143.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,129,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,900,514.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $168,155.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $987,664.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,372 shares of company stock valued at $369,521 over the last quarter. 12.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSV. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Carriage Services during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Mendel Money Management lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 70,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. grew its position in Carriage Services by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 17,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% 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.