Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 481,009 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 505% from the previous session’s volume of 79,508 shares.The stock last traded at $41.02 and had previously closed at $40.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their target price on Carriage Services from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $622.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.33.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.19. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $100.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Carriage Services news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 5,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 34,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,290,791.48. This represents a 12.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 16.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,607 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 19.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 38,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Carriage Services by 127.6% in the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 36,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 20,490 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 15,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.