Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered 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 SEC. The firm owned 333,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,950 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Carriage Services were worth $13,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Carriage Services by 141.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 26,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 15,433 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 13,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services by 46.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carriage Services during the third quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Praetorian PR LLC lifted its position in Carriage Services by 15.2% during the third quarter. Praetorian PR LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 10,578 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Stock Up 0.6 %

CSV stock opened at $38.82 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a one year low of $23.20 and a one year 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.85 and its 200 day moving average is $37.72. The firm has a market cap of $607.56 million, a PE ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $97.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 EPS for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CSV shares. StockNews.com downgraded Carriage Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Carriage Services 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.