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

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) announced 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 is Friday, May 3rd.

Carriage Services has increased 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 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 Stock Up 1.8 %

Carriage Services stock opened at $24.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.32. The firm has a market cap of $363.44 million, a PE ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.84. Carriage Services has a twelve month low of $18.06 and a twelve month high of $35.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSV. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $42,616.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 57,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Carlos R. Quezada sold 1,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $42,616.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,645.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Paul Donald Elliott sold 6,500 shares of Carriage Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.87, for a total transaction of $168,155.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 38,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $987,664.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,372 shares of company stock valued at $369,521 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Carriage Services by 527.3% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 828 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Carriage Services by 98.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Carriage Services by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 35.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 34.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 3,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

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.