StockNews.com Upgrades Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Separately, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Carriage Services Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CSV opened at $38.51 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.09. The stock has a market cap of $586.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. Carriage Services has a fifty-two week low of $23.20 and a fifty-two week high of $42.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $97.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Carriage Services will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSV. FMR LLC grew its position in Carriage Services by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Carriage Services by 1,074.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its position in shares of Carriage Services by 217.3% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares in 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.