Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) VP Paul Donald Elliott Sells 3,894 Shares

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV – Get Rating) VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 3,894 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.78, for a total transaction of $108,175.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 33,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,491.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Carriage Services Stock Down 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CSV opened at $26.49 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.79 and a 200-day moving average of $29.01. The company has a market capitalization of $395.50 million, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.88. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.71 and a 52-week high of $44.52.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $95.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.75 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 25.87%. On average, equities analysts predict that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 8th will be issued a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. This is an increase from Carriage Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CSV shares. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Monday, April 17th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Carriage Services by 18.3% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,291,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,431,000 after purchasing an additional 200,006 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 6.2% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,012,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,547,000 after acquiring an additional 59,061 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 6.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 946,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,500,000 after acquiring an additional 60,532 shares during the last quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 7.7% during the third quarter. Global Alpha Capital Management Ltd. now owns 927,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,829,000 after acquiring an additional 66,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Carriage Services by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 740,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,380,000 after acquiring an additional 26,800 shares during the last quarter. 72.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Carriage Services

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Carriage Services, Inc engages in the provision of funeral and cemetery services. It operates through the Funeral Home and Cemetery segments. The Funeral Home segment offers a complete suite of services to meet families’ funeral needs, including consultation, the removal and preparation of remains, the sale of caskets and related funeral merchandise, the use of funeral homes for visitation and remembrance services and transportation services.