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

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd.

Carriage Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Carriage Services has a payout ratio of 17.5% meaning 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CSV traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading 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 current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $363.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.35. Carriage Services has a one year low of $18.06 and a one year high of $35.59.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.28. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 21.39%. The business had revenue of $98.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.27 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at $987,664.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total value of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at $987,664.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Fargason bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.58 per share, with a total value of $153,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $374,491.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 210.3% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 7,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 5,128 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 51.9% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,970 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 6.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 946,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,500,000 after purchasing an additional 60,532 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 1.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 110,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,873,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Carriage Services in the first quarter worth $356,000. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

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.