Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.91 and last traded at $40.42, with a volume of 5066 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barrington Research increased their price objective on shares of Carriage Services from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Carriage Services Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $615.19 million, a PE ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.57.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.19. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $100.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is currently 20.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Carriage Services news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.78, for a total value of $188,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,290,791.48. This trade represents a 12.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Carriage Services by 8.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 616,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,547,000 after purchasing an additional 46,700 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Carriage Services by 201.5% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 229,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after buying an additional 153,538 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Carriage Services by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 141,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 13,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Carriage Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,310,000. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.