Aquatic Capital Management LLC Sells 1,745 Shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,745 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Carriage Services were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CSV. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Carriage Services by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 734,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,283,000 after acquiring an additional 9,080 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 590,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,548,000 after purchasing an additional 65,358 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 315,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 237,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,454,000 after purchasing an additional 34,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 14.2% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CSV. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Transactions at Carriage Services

In related news, President Steven D. Metzger sold 2,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.01, for a total transaction of $99,704.92. Following the sale, the president now owns 78,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,668.97. This represents a 3.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Carriage Services stock opened at $40.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $630.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $38.65 and its 200-day moving average is $38.98. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.44 and a 12 month high of $42.75.

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

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is presently 15.05%.

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.