Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) reached 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Carriage Services Stock Down 0.5 %

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 company has a market cap of $613.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.48.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $93.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Carriage Services news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 5,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,791.48. This trade represents a 12.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 550.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 613.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 1,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 5,001.0% during the 2nd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

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.