Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

CSV has been the subject of several other reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CSV traded up $0.65 on Friday, hitting $46.17. The company had a trading volume of 285,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,051. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35. Carriage Services has a 52-week low of $25.84 and a 52-week high of $46.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.70 and a 200 day moving average of $40.62. The company has a market cap of $724.42 million, a PE ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.88.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.96% and a net margin of 11.50%. The business had revenue of $8.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $104.17 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total value of $121,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 75,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,418.20. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $362,141. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 1,736.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 918 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Carriage Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Carriage Services in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Carriage Services in the first quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Carriage Services in the first quarter valued at about $108,000. 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.