Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Short Interest Down 8.8% in March

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 265,900 shares, a decrease of 8.8% from the March 15th total of 291,700 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 93,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Carriage Services stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $24.07. The stock had a trading volume of 73,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,901. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.84. Carriage Services has a 1-year low of $18.06 and a 1-year high of $35.59. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.42.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Carriage Services's payout ratio is currently 20.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Carriage Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 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 transaction of $42,616.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 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 transaction of $42,616.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 38,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $987,664.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Carriage Services by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 828 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Carriage Services by 98.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Carriage Services by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Carriage Services by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,655 shares of the company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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