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

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 1.87%. 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 dividend payout ratio of 17.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 %

NYSE CSV opened at $24.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $363.44 million, a PE ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.32. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $18.06 and a 52 week high of $35.59.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $98.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.27 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 21.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Carriage Services will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carriage Services

In other Carriage Services news, Director Melvin C. Payne sold 3,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $90,143.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,129,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,900,514.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Carriage Services news, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $168,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Melvin C. Payne sold 3,524 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $90,143.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,129,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,900,514.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,372 shares of company stock worth $369,521. 12.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 6,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 2,399 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $198,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 91.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 2,734 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday.

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.