Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Short Interest Update

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 228,900 shares, a growth of 19.2% from the January 31st total of 192,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 112,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Carriage Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,566,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Carriage Services during the third quarter valued at about $2,151,000. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 590,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,548,000 after acquiring an additional 65,358 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 acquiring an additional 57,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,272,000. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carriage Services Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CSV opened at $38.74 on Friday. Carriage Services has a 52-week low of $23.20 and a 52-week high of $42.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.21 and a 200 day moving average of $37.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $589.74 million, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The business had revenue of $97.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is 21.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CSV shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Carriage Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

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.