Barrington Research Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV)

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $38.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Carriage Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Carriage Services Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of CSV stock opened at $24.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $377.44 million, a P/E ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.84. Carriage Services has a twelve month low of $18.06 and a twelve month high of $35.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.32.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $98.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.27 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 8.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Carriage Services by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Carriage Services by 89.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $154,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Carriage Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.