Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Receives “Buy” Rating from Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reiterated their buy rating on shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Roth Mkm currently has a $40.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $32.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com lowered Carriage Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Carriage Services Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE CSV traded down $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.10. The company had a trading volume of 160,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,851. The company has a market capitalization of $471.48 million, a PE ratio of 15.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Carriage Services has a 1-year low of $18.06 and a 1-year high of $35.00.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $103.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $98.17 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 7.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is currently 22.17%.

Insider Activity at Carriage Services

In other news, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $39,393.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $367,458. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total transaction of $39,393.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $367,458. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lance Kian Granmayeh sold 3,282 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $96,195.42. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 27,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,162.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,318 shares of company stock worth $406,452 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 741.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 87,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,376,000 after buying an additional 77,439 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 202.9% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 51,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 34,178 shares in the last quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 208,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 319,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,979,000 after buying an additional 47,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Carriage Services in the 1st quarter valued at $1,517,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

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.