B. Riley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Stock

Key Points

• B. Riley analysts have raised the target price for Carriage Services (CSV) from $52.00 to $65.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.21% from its current price.
• The company reported $0.74 EPS for the latest quarter, outperforming the consensus estimate of $0.72, with revenues also surpassing expectations at $102.15 million.
• Institutional investors hold a significant portion of the stock, with 66.46% ownership, indicating strong institutional interest in Carriage Services.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Free Report) had its target price upped by B. Riley from $52.00 to $65.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on CSV. Barrington Research lifted their target price on shares of Carriage Services from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Carriage Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Carriage Services Price Performance

CSV stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.21. 150,995 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 84,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $756.34 million, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.83. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $29.53 and a 52 week high of $49.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $45.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.95.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.63% and a net margin of 12.85%. The company had revenue of $102.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.36 million. As a group, analysts expect that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Carriage Services's dividend payout ratio is 13.51%.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,223 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,456 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Carriage Services by 4.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,090 shares of the company's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. BayBridge Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Carriage Services by 4.7% during the second quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 8,311 shares of the company's stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Carriage Services by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 8,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.