Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Upgraded at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) to a moderate buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on CSV. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Carriage Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $59.00.

Carriage Services Stock Up 1.9%

CSV stock opened at $47.81 on Wednesday. Carriage Services has a one year low of $30.15 and a one year high of $49.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $44.84 and its 200 day moving average is $43.16. The firm has a market cap of $750.46 million, a PE ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.86.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Carriage Services had a net margin of 12.85% and a return on equity of 21.63%. The business had revenue of $102.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.36 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.51%.

Insider Activity at Carriage Services

In other news, VP Shane Pudenz sold 13,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.36, for a total value of $577,877.72. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 14,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $662,294.80. This trade represents a 46.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Carriage Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Carriage Services in the 1st quarter valued at $621,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 648,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,126,000 after acquiring an additional 57,500 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 120.2% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 135,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 74,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maven Securities LTD purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the 1st quarter worth $1,484,000. 66.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.