Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Earns Outperform Rating from Barrington Research

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Barrington Research in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the stock. Barrington Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 11.28% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CSV. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th.

Carriage Services Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CSV opened at $44.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35. Carriage Services has a 12-month low of $28.78 and a 12-month high of $47.48. The company has a market cap of $704.95 million, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.89.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $8.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $104.17 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.96% and a net margin of 11.50%. Research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

In related news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total value of $121,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 75,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,418.20. The trade was a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Carriage Services by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 24,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Carriage Services by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,000 after acquiring an additional 24,098 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 34,342 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $342,000. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.