Carriage Services (CSV) Competitors

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) and Hillenbrand (NYSE:HI) are both small-cap specialized consumer services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, media sentiment, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Which has more volatility and risk, CSV or HI?

Carriage Services has a beta of 0.89, meaning that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hillenbrand has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is CSV or HI more profitable?

Carriage Services has a net margin of 11.50% compared to Hillenbrand's net margin of -8.82%. Carriage Services' return on equity of 21.96% beat Hillenbrand's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carriage Services	11.50%	21.96%	3.52%
Hillenbrand	-8.82%	15.03%	4.19%

Which has better valuation & earnings, CSV or HI?

Carriage Services has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carriage Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carriage Services	$404.20M	1.82	$32.95M	$2.99	15.65
Hillenbrand	$3.18B	0.48	-$211M	-$3.81	-5.69

Do analysts prefer CSV or HI?

Carriage Services currently has a consensus target price of $50.50, indicating a potential upside of 7.93%. Hillenbrand has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 47.66%. Given Hillenbrand's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hillenbrand is more favorable than Carriage Services.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carriage Services	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Hillenbrand	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Do institutionals and insiders believe in CSV or HI?

66.5% of Carriage Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of Hillenbrand shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Carriage Services shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Hillenbrand shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is CSV or HI a better dividend stock?

Carriage Services pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Hillenbrand pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Carriage Services pays out 15.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hillenbrand pays out -23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hillenbrand has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Hillenbrand is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media refer more to CSV or HI?

In the previous week, Carriage Services had 4 more articles in the media than Hillenbrand. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Carriage Services and 1 mentions for Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand's average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat Carriage Services' score of 0.67 indicating that Hillenbrand is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Carriage Services	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hillenbrand	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Carriage Services beats Hillenbrand on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.