Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Short Interest Update

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 265,900 shares, a decline of 8.8% from the March 15th total of 291,700 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 93,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CSV traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.32. 65,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 91,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $353.06 million, a PE ratio of 11.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.84. Carriage Services has a fifty-two week low of $18.06 and a fifty-two week high of $35.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.36.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $98.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.27 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 21.39%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on CSV shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday, February 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $35,505.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,099,300.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $35,505.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,099,300.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,372 shares of company stock valued at $369,521. Insiders own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 98.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 107.8% in the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.