Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Rating Reiterated by Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm reiterated their buy rating on shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Free Report) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $32.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $31.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Carriage Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research restated an outperform rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Thursday.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Carriage Services stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $26.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 127,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,296. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $18.06 and a 52 week high of $35.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.34. The stock has a market cap of $393.64 million, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $103.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $98.17 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 8.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Carriage Services's payout ratio is 22.17%.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In other news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $35,505.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at $987,664.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521. 12.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 89.8% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,907 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the fourth quarter worth $154,000. 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.