Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

CSV stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $39.72. 239,006 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 139,250. The firm has a market capitalization of $604.66 million, a PE ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.04. Carriage Services has a 52 week low of $23.20 and a 52 week high of $42.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $97.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.72 million. Carriage Services had a return on equity of 23.52% and a net margin of 8.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carriage Services will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carriage Services

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSV. FMR LLC increased its stake in Carriage Services by 46.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 1,074.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 4,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Carriage Services by 217.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 3,412 shares during the last quarter. 66.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.