Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stake in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.06% of Carriage Services worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Carriage Services by 217.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after buying an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Carriage Services during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the third quarter valued at about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Stock Down 1.7 %

Carriage Services stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.55 and a fifty-two week high of $42.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $611.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $97.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Analysts predict that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 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.