Short Interest in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Grows By 13.2%

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 142,600 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the November 30th total of 126,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 86,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Carriage Services Price Performance

CSV traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $39.85. The company had a trading volume of 65,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,803. The company has a market capitalization of $606.64 million, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.90 and a 200-day moving average of $33.51. Carriage Services has a one year low of $22.84 and a one year high of $42.13.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.19. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The business had revenue of $100.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their target price on Carriage Services from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

In other news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 5,000 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.78, for a total transaction of $188,900.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 34,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,791.48. The trade was a 12.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 46.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 613.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 1,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Carriage Services by 5,001.0% during the second 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 period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 1,074.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 4,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

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.