Carriage Services (CSV) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $700.98M
• Dividend Yield: 1.06%
• Average Volume (3M): 85.46K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 14.3
• Beta (1Y): 0.62
• Revenue Growth: 0.99%
• EPS Growth: 37.55%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,200
• Sector: Consumer Cyclical
• Sector Strength: 84
• Industry: Personal Products & Services
• EPS (TTM): 0.75
• Shares Outstanding: 15,745,193
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 72,883
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 85,457
• PEG Ratio: 0.25
• Price to Book (P/B): 2.56
• Price to Sales (P/S): 17.33
• P/FCF Ratio: 16.29
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.79
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 3.90
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 8.56
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 10.77
• 1Y Price Target: $58.00
• Price Target Upside: 28.35% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 2
• EPS Forecast (FY): 3.45
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $429.02M

• Rating: 61 Neutral
• Price Target: $48.00 ▲(6.22% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/27/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/27/26

The score is held back primarily by financial-statement risk flags—especially the 2025 annual revenue collapse and weaker 2025 free cash flow coverage—despite improving leverage. Technicals are moderately supportive with price above key moving averages and healthy (not overbought) momentum, while valuation appears reasonable and the earnings call was broadly constructive with reaffirmed guidance.

Positive Factors

Improving leverage

Carriage has reduced leverage to ~4.0x with sequential debt reduction, improving financial flexibility. Sustained deleveraging lowers interest expense sensitivity, increases capacity for acquisitions, capex, or shareholder returns, and strengthens resilience to demand swings in deathcare services.

Growing preneed & cemetery sales

Significant growth in preneed cemetery sales and cemetery revenues increases upfront-funded cash inflows and revenue visibility. Preneed and cemetery mix diversify income away from at-need volatility, supporting steadier long-term cash generation and more predictable lifetime customer value.

Margin expansion and scalable acquisitions

EBITDA growth and margin expansion alongside accretive acquisitions indicate operational leverage and successful integration. Durable margin improvement from scale and synergies supports cash flow generation, funding of growth initiatives, and further debt reduction over a multi-quarter horizon.

Negative Factors

2025 revenue and free cash flow collapse

The extreme one-year revenue and free-cash-flow deterioration in 2025 materially reduces near-term earnings visibility and weakens the cash cushion. If persistent, this volatility could constrain debt repayment, limit reinvestment capacity, and increase refinancing or covenant risk.

High absolute debt burden

Even with improved leverage metrics, large nominal debt balances limit strategic optionality and elevate financial risk. Heavy absolute debt magnifies the impact of revenue swings, increases interest and refinancing exposure, and can restrict capital allocation during cyclical downturns.

Funeral volume weakness & divestiture hits

Declining funeral volume and losses from divestitures and impairments reduce core earnings reliability. Combined with rising capex, these factors pressure free cash flow and raise execution risk: weaker at-need volumes make long-term margin and cash forecasts less certain.

Carriage Services Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

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 engages in the provision of consultation, funeral home facilities for visitation and memorial services, and transportation services; removal and preparation of remains; and sale of burial and cremation services, and related merchandise, such as caskets and urns. The Cemetery Operations segment provides interment rights for grave sites, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, and niche; related cemetery merchandise, including outer burial containers, memorial markers, monuments, and floral placements; and interments, inurnments, and installation of cemetery merchandise services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 170 funeral homes in 26 states and 31 cemeteries in 11 states. Carriage Services, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is based in Houston, Texas.

How the Company Makes Money

Carriage Services generates revenue primarily through its funeral and cemetery operations. The key revenue streams include service fees for funerals and cremations, sales of burial plots and niches in cemeteries, and the sale of related merchandise such as caskets, urns, and memorial products. The company also earns income through pre-need funeral contracts, which involve selling funeral services and merchandise in advance of need, providing a reliable cash flow. Additionally, strategic acquisitions of funeral homes and cemeteries enhance its market presence and revenue potential. Partnerships with insurance companies and financial institutions for pre-need funding options can also contribute to its earnings.

Carriage Services Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Profitability and cash generation have been generally steady with improving leverage trends (debt-to-equity improved in 2025). However, the 2025 annual revenue collapse and inconsistent margin signals materially increase uncertainty, and 2025 free cash flow deterioration reduces financial cushion.

Income Statement

Profitability improved on an annual basis from 2020–2024, with net margin rising to ~8.2% in 2024 (vs. ~4.9% in 2020) and steady operating profitability in the ~18–22% range over 2021–2024. Revenue growth was modest but positive in 2023–2024. The key concern is the 2025 annual data point showing a severe revenue decline (~-90.8%) and margin figures that appear inconsistent versus prior years, creating uncertainty around the latest-year trajectory despite higher reported net income.

Balance Sheet

Leverage has been moving in the right direction recently: debt-to-equity improved to ~1.65 in 2025 from elevated levels in 2021–2023 (~3.5–4.5), and return on equity remains solid (mid-to-high teens through 2025). However, absolute debt remains sizable (roughly $421M–$613M over the period), and the capital structure has historically been highly levered, which can pressure flexibility if earnings or cash flows soften.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is generally positive, with operating cash flow consistently positive and free cash flow positive each year. In several years, operating cash flow covered net income well (notably 2020–2023), supporting earnings quality. Offsetting this, free cash flow has been volatile (including a sharp drop in 2023), and 2025 shows a steep free cash flow decline (growth ~-325.7%) with free cash flow covering only ~66% of net income—suggesting less cushion for debt reduction, reinvestment, or shareholder returns if the trend persists.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	37.66M	404.20M	382.52M	370.17M	375.89M
Gross Profit	146.68M	143.39M	124.30M	119.23M	129.52M
EBITDA	97.66M	81.80M	103.94M	103.04M	91.57M
Net Income	51.51M	32.95M	33.41M	41.38M	33.16M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	1.35B	1.28B	1.27B	1.19B	1.18B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	1.69M	1.17M	1.52M	1.17M	1.15M
Total Debt	421.49M	560.87M	604.63M	612.75M	578.93M
Total Liabilities	1.09B	1.07B	1.09B	1.06B	1.05B
Stockholders Equity	254.78M	208.55M	173.06M	137.13M	128.01M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	40.06M	35.90M	13.05M	34.94M	59.36M
Operating Cash Flow	60.69M	52.00M	75.59M	61.02M	84.25M
Investing Cash Flow	-35.17M	-3.64M	-57.00M	-52.49M	-12.54M
Financing Cash Flow	-25.00M	-48.72M	-18.23M	-8.51M	-71.45M

Carriage Services Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 45.19
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CSV, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 45.19 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 43.71, above the 50-day MA of 43.24, and above the 200-day MA of 43.85, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.36 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 53.47 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 62.58 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for CSV.

Carriage Services Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
SCI	65 Neutral	$11.22B	21.20	32.72%	1.66%	3.41%	7.94%
Sector *	61 Neutral	$18.38B	12.79	-2.54%	3.03%	1.52%	-15.83%
CSV	61 Neutral	$700.98M	14.31	21.96%	1.06%	0.99%	37.55%

Carriage Services Corporate Events

Carriage Services announces major executive leadership realignment

On January 16, 2026, Carriage Services announced a broad realignment of its executive team, effective February 2, 2026, to support its 2030 Vision and long-term growth strategy, highlighted by the promotion of Steven D. Metzger to President and Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for operations, sales, marketing and M&A, without any new compensatory arrangements. The company also hired industry veteran Rene Negrete as Vice President of Operations and promoted Sam A. Mazzu III to Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Christine Ngo to Vice President of Human Resources and Alfred White to Vice President of Marketing, while expanding CFO John Enwright’s remit to include IT and supply chain, moves that concentrate leadership around governance, culture, brand and operational execution to underpin purposeful growth and sustained value creation.

The most recent analyst rating on (CSV) stock is a Buy with a $60.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Carriage Services stock, see the CSV Stock Forecast page.