Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV) Short Interest Up 21.0% in January

Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE:CSV - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 172,500 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the December 31st total of 142,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 88,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company's shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research lifted their price target on Carriage Services from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Carriage Services Price Performance

CSV stock remained flat at $40.87 during trading on Wednesday. The company had a trading volume of 38,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,751. The stock has a market cap of $622.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.92. Carriage Services has a 1 year low of $22.96 and a 1 year high of $42.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.67. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.1125 per share. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Carriage Services's payout ratio is 20.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carriage Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSV. FMR LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd lifted its stake in Carriage Services by 613.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 1,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Carriage Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Carriage Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.46% of the company's stock.

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.