Insider Selling: Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $121,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 75,897 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,418.20. The trade was a 3.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Carriage Services Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE CSV opened at $41.46 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.78 and a 1-year high of $42.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $38.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.23. The company has a market cap of $648.85 million, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 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.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $8.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $104.17 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th will be issued a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is 15.05%.

Institutional Trading of Carriage Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 149,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 18,661 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,284,000 after acquiring an additional 12,180 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Carriage Services by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,454,000 after acquiring an additional 34,342 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter valued at $342,000. Finally, Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the 4th quarter worth $355,000. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

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.