Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Barrington Research

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by Barrington Research in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 46.15% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Carriage Services Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of CSV traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $26.00. The company had a trading volume of 127,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,179. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82. Carriage Services has a 1 year low of $18.06 and a 1 year high of $35.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.64 million, a P/E ratio of 12.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.87.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.16. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 22.58%. The company had revenue of $103.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $98.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carriage Services will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $35,505.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $35,505.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $42,616.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,062 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,645.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Carriage Services by 109.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 72,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after buying an additional 37,972 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Carriage Services in the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Carriage Services by 11.2% in the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 271,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,667,000 after purchasing an additional 27,250 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Carriage Services by 2.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 854,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,135,000 after purchasing an additional 16,448 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Carriage Services by 1.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 147,848 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the period. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.