Critical Contrast: Carriage Services (CSV) vs. Its Competitors

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) is one of 165 public companies in the “Diversified Consumer Services” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Carriage Services to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

Carriage Services has a beta of 0.72, suggesting that its share price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carriage Services’ rivals have a beta of 0.53, suggesting that their average share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Carriage Services pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Carriage Services pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 6.0% and pay out 36.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Carriage Services and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carriage Services	1	1	3	0	2.40
Carriage Services Competitors	1442	3453	5299	197	2.41

Carriage Services currently has a consensus price target of $52.57, suggesting a potential upside of 85.96%. As a group, “Diversified Consumer Services” companies have a potential upside of 63.96%. Given Carriage Services’ higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Carriage Services is more favorable than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Carriage Services and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carriage Services	11.31%	17.46%	3.50%
Carriage Services Competitors	-3.82%	-29.65%	2.33%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.5% of Carriage Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 49.0% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Carriage Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.5% of shares of all “Diversified Consumer Services” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Carriage Services and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carriage Services	$417.44 million	$51.51 million	9.62
Carriage Services Competitors	$3.26 billion	$221.82 million	15.38

Carriage Services’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Carriage Services. Carriage Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Carriage Services beats its rivals on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Carriage Services Company Profile

Carriage Services, Inc. is a provider of funeral and cemetery services in the United States. The company owns and operates funeral homes and cemeteries, serving families through arrangements for funerals, memorial services, cremations and cemetery interments. Its offerings also include related merchandise and services, such as caskets, urns, burial spaces and memorial products. Carriage Services operates in multiple states and gives its locations a degree of local operating autonomy while providing centralized support.