Heartland Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Heartland Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 333,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,950 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 2.19% of Carriage Services worth $13,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Carriage Services by 4.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 314,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,339,000 after buying an additional 13,126 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 149,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,975,000 after acquiring an additional 18,661 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Carriage Services by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,698,000 after acquiring an additional 24,098 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Carriage Services by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 82,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Praetorian PR LLC increased its stake in Carriage Services by 15.2% in the third quarter. Praetorian PR LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 10,578 shares during the period. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Carriage Services Price Performance

Shares of CSV stock opened at $38.82 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.20 and a twelve month high of $42.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $607.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.91. 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 (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. The company had revenue of $97.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.1125 dividend. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th.

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.