Carriage Services Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Yellow here marks an open operating question, not a solvency risk. Carriage is a long way from the latter: consistently profitable, interest coverage of 3.4 times in 2025, all credit covenants met at March 31, 2026, no going-concern language, no goodwill write-down, an audited report from Grant Thornton and 136 funeral homes owned outright with the land. The open operating question is whether the model still grows without continuous acquisitions: comparable case volume fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, the cremation rate climbs by nearly a percentage point a year, and free cash flow of $40.1 million in 2025 sits below the 2023 level. That $427.7 million of goodwill stands against $266.9 million of equity is the balance-sheet side of the same question. That the stock looks inexpensive at about 14.6 times earnings on the $47.48 filing anchor of May 5, 2026 is a price argument and does not change the rating. It turns green once two or three consecutive quarters show case volume stabilizing and free cash flow keeping pace with profit again. The decision is yours.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Carriage Services is the certainty trap in its purest form: demand is guaranteed, revenue per case is not. The business runs well — $417.4 million of revenue and $51.5 million of profit in 2025 — but core volume shrank 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2026, and a 60.8 percent cremation rate structurally erodes revenue per case. Growth therefore comes from acquisitions whose premium fills the balance sheet: $427.7 million of goodwill against $266.9 million of equity. And because operations leave only around $40 million a year after capital expenditures, up to $100 million is to come from new shareholders as of May 6, 2026 — while a $48.9 million repurchase authorization sits unused. Not investment advice.
Business model and earning power
A 34-year-old, profitable business with non-negotiable demand: $417.4 million of revenue and $97.7 million of operating income in 2025, a 35.1 percent gross margin and 36.4 percent in the first quarter of 2026. The company owns the land and buildings under 136 of its 155 funeral homes. Pricing works: average revenue per contract rose 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026.
Volume and revenue mix
Comparable funeral contract volume fell 5.8 percent to 10,663 in the first quarter of 2026. The cremation rate rose to 60.8 percent in 2025 (2024: 59.9 percent), and the 10-K for 2025 states that a cremation brings in roughly one-third of the revenue of a traditional burial. Price offsets it, but the lever is finite.
Cash flow quality
Free cash flow was $40.1 million in 2025, below the $57.6 million of 2023, even though net income rose from $33.4 million to $51.5 million. Receivables are the cause: up $26.6 million in 2025 against only $13.2 million more revenue. On the positive side, operating cash flow stays clearly positive and covers both the dividend and capital expenditures.
Balance sheet and leverage
Financial debt of roughly $526.7 million equals about 4.3 times 2025 operating income before depreciation and amortization; interest coverage was 3.4 times and all credit covenants were met at March 31, 2026. At the same time, $427.7 million of goodwill exceeds total equity of $266.9 million by $160.8 million, and the $400 million of 4.25 percent notes mature on May 15, 2029 — they were marked at $380.3 million, below face, at March 31, 2026.
Capital allocation and dilution
Three years without a single repurchase despite $48.9 million of open authorization — and since May 6, 2026 a program to sell up to $100 million of new stock, arithmetically 2,115,954 shares or 13.3 percent more. Together with 4,125,044 shares from options, awards and plan reserves, 15.9 million shares could arithmetically become 22.1 million.
Governance
The May 12, 2026 votes are telling: declassifying the board drew 11,975,332 votes for and 16,360 against yet failed on the charter's 80 percent hurdle, and the deadline extension of the equity incentive plan squeaked through 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent. Chief executive pay of $3,859,198 in 2025 sits against a median employee at $26,996 — a ratio of 143 to 1.
Worth Noting
This analysis was triggered by the SEC filing stream: the S-3ASR shelf registration of April 27, 2026 and the three filings of May 6, 2026 (Form 8-K on the equity distribution agreement, prospectus supplement 424B5 for up to $100 million, and the quarterly results). The cross-check on July 30, 2026 showed that CSV appears in none of our in-house stock scanner result lists as of that date; those lists are recalculated daily and may look different tomorrow.
Data basis: annual figures from the 10-K for 2025 (as of December 31, 2025, filed February 26, 2026), interim figures from the 10-Q as of March 31, 2026 (filed May 7, 2026), the share count of 15,872,328 from that report's cover page (as of April 28, 2026), capital actions from prospectus supplement 424B5 of May 6, 2026, voting results from the Form 8-K of May 14, 2026. Fundamental data retrieved July 30, 2026.
The market value from the fundamental data feed ($599.5 million) failed the cross-check: 15,872,328 shares x $47.48 — the last sale price documented in the prospectus supplement, dated May 5, 2026 — comes to $753.6 million, a deviation of more than one fifth. The article therefore uses only the filing anchor, and every metric derived from it carries the same as-of date.
Possible confusion: the ticker CSV here stands for Carriage Services, not for a file format or another issuer. The larger listed competitor in the U.S. death care market is Service Corporation International (SCI), a different company with a different ticker.
The maximum of 22.1 million shares in the dilution chart is a ceiling built from already authorized issuance, not a forecast: 15,872,328 shares outstanding plus up to 2,115,954 from the ATM program (at the $47.26 price cited in the filing) plus 1,226,298 from options, restricted stock units and performance stock units plus 2,707,421 reserved under the 2017 omnibus incentive plan plus 191,325 under the employee stock purchase plan, all as of March 31, 2026.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CSV since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 30.90 $ to 51.70 $ · Last price: 30.90 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Personal Services
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carriage Services Inc CSV | 0.5 | 11.2 | 9.1 | 38.3 | 24.1 | 3.3 | -27.6 |
| Rollins Inc ROL | 15.9 | 31.3 | 20.9 | 52.4 | 16.1 | 11.0 | -40.4 |
| Service Corporation International SCI | 10.8 | 22.2 | 12.2 | 26.0 | 22.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 |
| Andersen Group Inc. ANDG | 6.2 | – | 0.0 | 35.2 | 10.0 | 14.6 | – |
| H&R Block Inc HRB | 5.7 | 8.4 | 6.4 | 44.3 | 43.2 | 4.2 | -8.9 |
| Frontdoor Inc FTDR | 5.6 | 23.1 | 11.6 | 55.6 | 14.6 | 13.6 | 19.5 |
| Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. BFAM | 3.5 | 20.5 | 12.7 | 25.5 | 9.1 | 9.2 | -38.6 |
| MEDIFAST INC MED | 0.1 | – | 0.0 | 69.2 | – | -36.0 | -15.4 |
| Regis Corporation RGS | 0.1 | – | 11.3 | 37.5 | – | 3.5 | -4.1 |
| Median of companies shown | 5.6 | 21.4 | 11.3 | 38.3 | 16.1 | 4.2 | -12.1 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 248 | 50 | 20 | 1.12 | 50 | 178 | 885 |
| 2017 | 258 | 49 | 37 | 2.10 | 45 | 198 | 922 |
| 2018 | 268 | 43 | 12 | 0.63 | 49 | 221 | 918 |
| 2019 | 274 | 52 | 15 | 0.81 | 37 | 227 | 1,130 |
| 2020 | 329 | 57 | 16 | 0.89 | 83 | 241 | 1,146 |
| 2021 | 376 | 94 | 33 | 1.82 | 84 | 128 | 1,179 |
| 2022 | 370 | 80 | 41 | 2.63 | 61 | 137 | 1,193 |
| 2023 | 383 | 81 | 33 | 2.16 | 76 | 173 | 1,268 |
| 2024 | 404 | 82 | 33 | 2.13 | 52 | 209 | 1,280 |
| 2025 | 417 | 98 | 52 | 3.29 | 61 | 255 | 1,346 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q2 | 0.63 | 18.90 | 102 | 4.80 | 6.10 | 2 | -1 |
| 2024: Q3 | 0.64 | 93.90 | 101 | 11.30 | 9.80 | 21 | 16 |
| 2024: Q4 | 0.62 | -19.50 | 98 | -1.10 | 10.10 | 9 | 5 |
| 2025: Q1 | 1.34 | 197.80 | 107 | 3.50 | 19.50 | 14 | 11 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.74 | 17.50 | 102 | -0.20 | 11.50 | 8 | 5 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.41 | -35.90 | 103 | 2.00 | 6.30 | 25 | 18 |
| 2025: Q4 | 0.78 | 25.80 | 106 | 8.00 | 11.60 | 14 | -35 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.86 | -35.80 | 106 | -0.90 | 12.70 | 15 | 11 |
| 2026: Q2 | 0.77 | 4.10 | 103 | 0.80 | 12.00 | 8 | 2 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 7 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Breakout & Setup
Momentum & Trend
Research
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 3.38 | 3.35 – 3.45 | 435 | 5.7% | 5 |
| 12/31/2027 | 3.64 | 3.54 – 3.70 | 455 | 7.6% | 5 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Free cash flow over the past twelve months is negative, which rules out a serious reverse calculation. Any growth rate only makes a negative cash flow more negative; no present value comes out of it. What the price reflects here is therefore not a stream of cash flows, but the expectation that there will be one at all.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Carriage Services verkauft keine KI und wird von ihr nach eigener Darstellung auch nicht bedroht — der Konzern setzt eigenen Angaben zufolge herkömmliche und generative KI in den eigenen Systemen ein, um manuelle Verwaltungsvorgänge zu automatisieren und die Produktivität im Vertrieb zu erhöhen.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„We have incorporated, and may continue incorporating, traditional and generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions into certain of our information systems and operations with the intent to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, and these solutions may become important in our operations over time."
Wir haben herkömmliche und generative Lösungen künstlicher Intelligenz („KI“) in bestimmte unserer Informationssysteme und Abläufe eingebunden und werden dies möglicherweise weiter tun, mit der Absicht, Effizienz und Wirksamkeit zu erhöhen; diese Lösungen könnten mit der Zeit für unseren Betrieb wichtig werden.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„For example, we have incorporated AI and generative AI to automate certain manual administrative processes and increase productivity within our sale terms."
Zum Beispiel haben wir KI und generative KI eingebunden, um bestimmte manuelle Verwaltungsvorgänge zu automatisieren und die Produktivität in unseren Vertriebseinheiten zu erhöhen.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
„Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations."
Unsere Wettbewerber oder andere Dritte könnten KI schneller oder erfolgreicher in ihre Produkte einbinden als wir, was unsere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit beeinträchtigen und unser Betriebsergebnis nachteilig beeinflussen könnte.
10-K · 2026-02-26 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-K 2026-02-26 · 10-Q 2026-05-07 · 8-K 2026-05-06 · 424B5 2026-05-06 · 8-K 2026-05-14 · DEF 14A 2026-03-27
Rated on July 30, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years 4.1%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year -73.0%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -0.2%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") -1.3%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 35.1%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 31.8%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 4.5 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 70 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 7.6%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 9.5%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
5/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% 5.9%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 4.4%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% 7.7%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 5.1%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 5.7x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 14.9%
- Return on equity > 15% –
- ROCE > 15% 7.6%
- Expected return > 10% 0.7%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
The company
About the Company
Carriage Services, Inc. provides funeral and cemetery services, and merchandise in the United States. It operates through 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; cremation services; and related funeral merchandise, as well as engages in the sale of caskets and urns. The Cemetery Operations segment sells interment rights for grave sites, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, and niches; related cemetery merchandise, including memorial markers, outer burial containers, and monuments; and interments, inurnments, and installation of cemetery merchandise services. Carriage Services, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas.
- Employees
- 1,248
- Headquarters
- Houston, TX
- Address
- 3040 Post Oak Boulevard, 77056 Houston, United States
- Phone
- 713 332 8400
- Website
- carriageservices.com
- IPO Date
- 08/08/1996
- ISIN
- US1439051079
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Carlos R. Quezada | CEO & Vice Chairman | 1971 |
| Steven D. Metzger J.D. | President & COO | 1979 |
| John Enwright | Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer | 1973 |
| Kathryn Shanley | Chief Accounting Officer | 1969 |
| Sam A. Mazzu III | Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary | 1981 |
| Shane T. Pudenz | Vice President Of Sales | 1991 |
| Alfred White | Vice President of Marketing | – |
| Christopher Manceaux | Senior VP & Regional Partner | 1971 |
| Jeremy Weaver | Director of Operations Support of the East Region | – |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- 08/14/2026 CARRIAGE SERVICES INC (CSV): Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers: Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
- 08/05/2026 CARRIAGE SERVICES INC (CSV): Results of Operations and Financial Condition; Financial Statements and Exhibits SEC ↗
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.