Short Interest in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Increases By 19.2%

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 228,900 shares, an increase of 19.2% from the January 31st total of 192,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 112,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 734,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,283,000 after purchasing an additional 9,080 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 590,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 34,342 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 149,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after purchasing an additional 18,661 shares during the period. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Carriage Services Price Performance

CSV stock opened at $38.74 on Friday. Carriage Services has a 1 year low of $23.20 and a 1 year high of $42.75. The company has a market cap of $589.74 million, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.21 and a 200 day moving average of $37.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 23.52%. The company had revenue of $97.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is currently 21.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CSV shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Carriage Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

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.