Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 228,900 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the January 31st total of 192,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 112,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Carriage Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

NYSE:CSV traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.73. 32,411 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 108,276. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $589.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. Carriage Services has a 12 month low of $23.20 and a 12 month high of $42.75.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The firm had revenue of $97.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 46.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 1,074.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 4,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 217.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 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.