Carriage Services, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.11 (NYSE:CSV)

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of 0.1125 per share on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd.

Carriage Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Carriage Services has a payout ratio of 17.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Carriage Services to earn $2.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.45 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.9%.

Carriage Services Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CSV stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.00. The company had a trading volume of 89,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,009. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.38 and a 200 day moving average of $24.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $363.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.84. Carriage Services has a 1-year low of $18.06 and a 1-year high of $35.59.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $98.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.27 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 21.39% and a net margin of 8.73%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

In other Carriage Services news, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $35,505.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $42,616.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 57,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven D. Metzger sold 1,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $35,505.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,099,300.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,372 shares of company stock valued at $369,521 in the last 90 days. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 35.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Carriage Services by 2.8% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 19,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Carriage Services by 98.5% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Carriage Services by 1.5% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 43,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Carriage Services by 8.6% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 8,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday.

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.