Quest Partners LLC Purchases 1,755 Shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,983 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Carriage Services worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Carriage Services by 8.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Carriage Services by 550.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Carriage Services by 10.7% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 141,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,791,000 after acquiring an additional 13,598 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Carriage Services by 201.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 229,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,166,000 after acquiring an additional 153,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Carriage Services by 10.1% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. 66.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $39,393.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,460 shares in the company, valued at $367,458. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Carlos R. Quezada acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.44 per share, for a total transaction of $58,880.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 60,061 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,195.84. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Shane Pudenz sold 1,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.30, for a total value of $39,393.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $367,458. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,544 shares of company stock worth $401,074 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on CSV. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (up previously from $32.00) on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Carriage Services in a report on Tuesday, May 28th.

Carriage Services Stock Performance

CSV opened at $33.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.82. Carriage Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.06 and a 1-year high of $35.00. The company has a market cap of $502.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.94.

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $102.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.40 million. Carriage Services had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 21.99%. On average, analysts expect that Carriage Services, Inc. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carriage Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a $0.1125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Carriage Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.17%.

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.