Manatuck Hill Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Manatuck Hill Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV - Free Report) by 22.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Carriage Services worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CSV. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 228.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,433 shares of the company's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 4.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,864 shares of the company's stock worth $10,339,000 after purchasing an additional 13,126 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Carriage Services during the third quarter valued at about $232,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 94.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 118,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,903,000 after buying an additional 57,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,042 shares of the company's stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the period. 66.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Carriage Services

In other news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 2,492 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total value of $99,704.92. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 78,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,156,668.97. The trade was a 3.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carriage Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Carriage Services Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Carriage Services stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.79. 45,704 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 116,023. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $38.64 and a 200-day moving average of $39.09. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.44 and a 12 month high of $42.75. The company has a market cap of $638.29 million, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The firm had revenue of $8.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $104.17 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Carriage Services's payout ratio is presently 15.05%.

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.