Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Short Interest Up 32.2% in August

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 276,900 shares, a growth of 32.2% from the August 15th total of 209,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 115,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In other news, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $39,393.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,460 shares in the company, valued at $367,458. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Carriage Services news, CEO Carlos R. Quezada purchased 2,000 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $29.44 per share, for a total transaction of $58,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 60,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,195.84. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $39,393.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $367,458. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,544 shares of company stock valued at $401,074 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CSV. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Carriage Services by 741.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 87,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,376,000 after purchasing an additional 77,439 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Carriage Services by 202.9% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 51,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 34,178 shares during the last quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. raised its position in Carriage Services by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbert Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 208,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Carriage Services during the first quarter worth $1,517,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 201.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 229,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after purchasing an additional 153,538 shares during the last quarter. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CSV shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective (up from $32.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

CSV stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $32.93. 113,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 110,427. Carriage Services has a 12 month low of $18.06 and a 12 month high of $35.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $500.87 million, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.90.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Carriage Services had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $102.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.40 million. On average, analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.17%.

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.