Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $307,000 Holdings in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,700 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Carriage Services worth $307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Carriage Services by 1,074.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Carriage Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in Carriage Services by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 6,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,419 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company’s stock.

Carriage Services Stock Up 0.6 %

CSV opened at $38.74 on Friday. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.20 and a 1-year high of $42.75. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $589.74 million, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the business earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Carriage Services Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CSV. StockNews.com upgraded Carriage Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Carriage Services in a research note 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.