Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Steven D. Metzger Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) President Steven D. Metzger sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.60, for a total transaction of $121,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 75,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,081,418.20. This trade represents a 3.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

NYSE:CSV opened at $40.92 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.53 and a 1 year high of $42.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $640.37 million, a P/E ratio of 18.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.1125 per share. This represents a $0.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. Carriage Services’s payout ratio is 15.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in Carriage Services during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Carriage Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. US Bancorp DE purchased a new position in Carriage Services during the 1st quarter worth $93,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 8,246.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 3,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CSV. StockNews.com downgraded Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 3rd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target (up previously from $48.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

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.