Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at a company like Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV), which operates in the essential, non-cyclical deathcare industry, do you really understand how they translate compassionate service into a market cap of over $650 million as of November 2025? This Houston-based consolidator, which manages approximately 162 funeral homes and 31 cemeteries across the US, is projecting 2025 annual revenue between $413 million and $417 million, a defintely compelling figure that shows their scale and stability. But how does a business model centered on funeral services and pre-need cemetery sales generate that kind of financial performance and what does their forward-looking Adjusted Diluted EPS guidance of $3.25 to $3.30 really signal about their operational efficiency and growth strategy?

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) History

You're looking to understand the bedrock of Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV), and honestly, it's a story of an outsider seeing a massive, fragmented market-the death care industry-and applying a corporate consolidation playbook to it. The direct takeaway is that the company was built on an aggressive acquisition strategy, which later evolved into a decentralized, high-performance model, and is now focused on strategic divestitures and core growth, as seen in its 2025 results.

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Founding Timeline

Year established

1991

Original location

Houston, Texas

Founding team members

The company was primarily led by Melvin C. Payne, a former management consultant who saw the opportunity to consolidate the industry, along with co-founder Mark Duffey. Payne would later transition from CEO to Executive Chairman, a defintely significant leadership shift.

Initial capital/funding

Carriage Services launched with private capital, but its initial expansion was heavily financed by a unit of its future competitor, Service Corporation International. The company secured over $30 million in loan commitments from Provident Services to start its aggressive acquisition phase.

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Evolution Milestones

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Transformative Moments

The company's most recent transformative phase centers on operational discipline and capital allocation, a clear shift from the early days of pure, rapid acquisition. This focus is paying off in their near-term financials.

Here's the quick math on recent performance: Q1 2025 total revenue hit $107.1 million, a 3.5% year-over-year increase, and GAAP net income soared by 200.1% to $20.9 million. That's a huge jump in profitability.

The shift is about quality over quantity now. They are divesting businesses that don't meet their high-performance standards and reinvesting in top-performing cemeteries and technology, especially with the ongoing implementation of Project Trinity-a major back-office systems upgrade designed to drive efficiency and cost savings.

• Strategic Pivot to Core: The company is strategically moving back toward growth through targeted acquisitions while maintaining diligent cost management, a dual focus evident in their Q3 2025 revenue of $102.74 million.
• Leadership Transition: The planned transition of the founder, Melvin C. Payne, from CEO to Executive Chairman, and the appointment of Carlos R. Quezada as CEO, signaled a new era focused on strategic execution and financial optimization.
• Focus on Preneed: A major growth engine is preneed cemetery sales (services purchased before they are needed), which saw a significant increase in the consolidated average price per interment right sold in Q1 2025.

What this estimate hides is the continued macroeconomic uncertainty, but the company is taking clear actions to strengthen its balance sheet by reducing debt. If you want to dive deeper into the institutional players betting on this strategy, you should read Exploring Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Ownership Structure

Carriage Services, Inc. is a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker CSV. This means its ownership is widely distributed among institutional investors, company insiders, and the public.

As of November 2025, the company has a market capitalization of approximately $0.64 Billion USD, which is a key indicator of its size and liquidity. The control is primarily vested in institutional hands, but a significant portion is held by insiders, which often aligns management's interests with long-term shareholder value. Honestly, the level of institutional holding is defintely a signal of strong market trust.

Carriage Services' Current Status

Carriage Services, Inc. is a leading consolidator and provider of funeral and cemetery services in the United States. It is a publicly traded entity on the NYSE, which subjects it to rigorous financial reporting and governance standards, giving you clear visibility into its operations.

The company has seen solid financial performance in the 2025 fiscal year, with its Q3 2025 total operating revenue growing to $101.3 million, an increase of 5.2% year-over-year. Management's outlook for the full-year 2025 anticipates revenues in the range of $413 million to $417 million, with an adjusted diluted EPS (Earnings Per Share) of $3.25 to $3.30. This is a business focused on disciplined execution and strategic growth, especially in preneed cemetery sales. If you want to dive deeper into who is driving the stock, you should be Exploring Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Carriage Services' Ownership Breakdown

The ownership structure of Carriage Services is dominated by institutional investors, which is typical for a mid-cap public company. However, the insider stake is also notable, and it's important to understand the difference between the two main groups.

Here's the quick math on who holds the shares, based on recent 2025 data:

What this estimate hides is the influence of the largest individual shareholders. For instance, former CEO Melvin C. Payne is the largest individual shareholder, owning 8.63% of the company's shares, a position valued at approximately $56.08 million. That's a powerful voice in the boardroom, even with a smaller direct percentage.

Carriage Services' Leadership

The company's strategy and operational execution are steered by an experienced leadership team, with a mix of long-tenured veterans and newer, strategically-placed executives. The current structure separates the Chairman and CEO roles, which is generally a positive governance signal.

• Carlos R. Quezada: Vice Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Appointed in June 2023, his total yearly compensation is approximately $4.29 million.
• Steven D. Metzger: President. He leads Corporate Development, Legal, HR, and Risk Management, bringing a comprehensive view to the business.
• John Enwright: Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Treasurer. He joined in January 2025, bringing significant public company CFO experience.
• Don Patteson Jr.: Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. This role presides over the independent directors, enhancing the quality of the Board's governance.

The average tenure for the management team is 3.6 years, which suggests a stable core team leading the strategic shift back into growth mode through new acquisitions. Your clear action here is to monitor the new CFO's impact on the deleveraging strategy, as the company's leverage ratio improved to 4.1x as of Q3 2025.

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Mission and Values

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) grounds its business-providing funeral and cemetery services-in a core purpose that moves beyond transactions, focusing on creating a premier, empathetic experience for families during their most defintely difficult times. This commitment to elevated service is backed by a decentralized, entrepreneurial culture that drives both quality care and strong financial performance.

Carriage Services' Core Purpose

A company's cultural DNA is what maps its long-term strategy, and for Carriage Services, that means balancing compassionate service with operational excellence. Their core purpose is the blueprint for how they operate their 159 funeral homes and 28 cemeteries across the US as of September 30, 2025. This isn't just about being in the death care industry; it's about setting the standard for it.

Official mission statement

Carriage Services' mission is centered on delivering exceptional and compassionate funeral and cemetery services, achieved through both strategic leadership and a focus on local operational excellence. The formal purpose statement is clear and actionable:

• Create a premier experience through innovation, empowered partnership, and elevated service.

This mission directly translates into financial value; for example, in the first quarter of 2025, total revenue hit $107.1 million, driven partly by a 2.3% increase in the consolidated average revenue per funeral contract, showing that elevated service can command a premium. Here's the quick math: better service means higher average revenue per contract, which drives shareholder value.

The company's core values, which underpin this mission, emphasize a High Performance Culture Framework:

• Relentless Pursuit of Excellence: Consistently striving for the highest quality in service delivery.
• Unwavering Integrity: Maintaining ethical practices and honesty in all dealings.
• Service is Our Passion: A deep, personal commitment to serving families.
• Families First: Prioritizing the needs and dignity of the grieving families.

You can read more about how these principles guide the company's decisions here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV).

Vision statement

The vision for Carriage Services is a clear, long-term aspiration for market leadership and respect within the highly fragmented funeral and cemetery industry. It's a simple, powerful goal.

• Build the most respected and professional funeral and cemetery company in North America.

This vision isn't abstract; it's a driver for strategic actions like deleveraging and targeted growth. The company's leverage ratio dropped to 4.2x by June 30, 2025, down from 5.0x a year prior, which is a concrete step toward financial stability and professionalism. The focus on 'professional' and 'respected' ensures that financial discipline, like the expected full-year 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of $131 million at the midpoint, goes hand-in-hand with quality care.

Carriage Services slogan/tagline

The company's public-facing slogan captures the essence of their strategy: honoring tradition while embracing modern business practices and service improvements.

• Where Tradition Meets Innovation.

This tagline highlights the balance between the sensitive, time-honored nature of their services and their commitment to innovation, such as empowering local teams (entrepreneurialism) to make decisions that best serve their communities. This decentralized model is a key innovation, and it's how they expect to achieve a full-year 2025 revenue of around $415 million.

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) How It Works

Carriage Services, Inc. operates as a consolidator in the deathcare industry, generating revenue by providing a full spectrum of funeral, cremation, and cemetery services across the United States. The company creates value by acquiring and managing a portfolio of local, high-quality businesses, focusing on both immediate needs (at-need) and future planning (preneed) to ensure long-term, stable cash flow.

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The company's operational model is built on managing a network of local providers-specifically, 159 funeral homes in 24 states and 28 cemeteries in 9 states as of September 30, 2025. This scale gives them purchasing power, but they still aim to keep a local, premier service feel.

Their process for driving value has a few key components right now. First, they are back in growth mode, strategically acquiring new businesses while divesting non-core assets to reallocate capital. For example, in Q3 2025, they completed the acquisition of two businesses that generated over $15 million in revenue last year, while divesting seven funeral homes and one cemetery.

Also, the focus is defintely on preneed sales (arrangements made before death) because that revenue is sticky and predictable. They're using tech to help this, like the launch of Sales Edge 2.0, an upgraded customer relationship management (CRM) platform that includes a marketing module to better generate and convert leads. This strategy is working, as General Agency Commission revenue from insurance-funded prearranged funeral sales was up 61% in Q3 2025.

Carriage Services, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

Carriage Services' competitive edge comes from a mix of financial discipline and a differentiated service model in a fragmented industry.

• Disciplined Capital Structure: The company has focused on deleveraging, paying down over $100 million of debt in the two years leading up to Q3 2025. This has lowered their leverage ratio to a healthier 4.1x as of Q3 2025, reducing interest expense and freeing up cash flow. If you want to dive deeper into the balance sheet movements, you should read Breaking Down Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.
• Preneed Sales Momentum: Strong growth in preneed cemetery sales provides a backlog of future revenue, stabilizing the business against fluctuations in at-need funeral volumes, which were weaker than anticipated in mid-2025. The full-year 2025 revenue guidance midpoint is $415 million, supported by this preneed strength.
• Service-Centric Culture: The 'Passion for Service' program is a deliberate move to elevate service consistency and create 'premier experiences,' which is a key differentiator in a high-touch industry. This focus helps maintain the premium pricing and local brand equity of their acquired businesses.
• Operational Efficiency: Initiatives like the core line strategies for caskets and other merchandise are expected to drive meaningful margin expansion by streamlining product offerings and improving pricing. The Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA guidance midpoint for 2025 is $131 million.

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) How It Makes Money

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) generates the vast majority of its revenue by providing a full spectrum of deathcare services and products, primarily through its network of 159 funeral homes and 28 cemeteries across the US as of September 30, 2025. The business model is fundamentally non-discretionary, relying on a mix of at-need (immediate) services and high-margin preneed (pre-arranged) sales.

Carriage Services' Revenue Breakdown

The company's financial engine is split between funeral services and cemetery operations, but the growth story in 2025 is clearly driven by preneed cemetery sales. For the third quarter of 2025, the company reported total operating revenue of $101.3 million. The table below breaks down the primary revenue streams, using Q3 2025 data as a proxy for the current fiscal year performance.

Funeral Operating Revenue, which includes at-need services and merchandise, is still the largest segment, but it saw a 1.3% decrease in the third quarter of 2025 due to a 2.1% reduction in funeral volume. That volume softness is a near-term risk. Cemetery Segment Revenue, which includes sales of cemetery property, merchandise, and services, is the clear growth driver, increasing by 12.6% year-over-year to $35.6 million in Q3 2025. The third stream, General Agency Commission Revenue, comes from insurance-funded prearranged funeral sales and is a small but rapidly growing part of the business, up 61% to $2.6 million in the same quarter.

Business Economics

The economics of Carriage Services are built on operating leverage (the ability to increase profit margins as revenue grows) within a high-fixed-cost, non-cyclical industry. The key is driving high-margin preneed sales-selling a plot or service years in advance-which locks in future revenue and provides immediate cash flow for investment. Preneed cemetery sales, in particular, saw an impressive 21.4% year-over-year increase in Q3 2025.

• Pricing Power: The deathcare industry offers strong pricing power due to the emotional, non-discretionary nature of the purchase, which helps offset inflationary pressures on variable expenses.
• Cost Discipline: Overhead expenditure is a critical metric for efficiency. In Q3 2025, overhead was managed down to 13.4% of revenues, an improvement from 14.1% the previous year.
• Capital Structure: The company's leverage ratio (a measure of debt relative to earnings) improved to 4.1 times in Q3 2025, down from 4.2 times, indicating a slight de-risking of the balance sheet.

The business is defintely a long-term play on demographics, but near-term growth is about sales execution. You should read more about the company's long-term strategy in the Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV).

Carriage Services' Financial Performance

Carriage Services' financial health as of November 2025 shows a solid margin profile despite soft funeral volumes. The company is on track to meet its reconfirmed full-year 2025 guidance, which gives us a clear picture of expected performance.

• Full-Year 2025 Revenue: Management guidance projects full-year revenue between $413 million and $417 million, with a midpoint of $415 million.
• Profitability: The Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) for 2025 is expected to be between $130 million and $132 million. The Q3 2025 Adjusted Consolidated EBITDA margin was strong at 32.1%.
• Earnings Per Share (EPS): The company slightly raised its full-year Adjusted Diluted EPS guidance to a midpoint of $3.28 per share. This follows a strong Q3 2025 Adjusted EPS of $0.75, an increase of 17.2% year-over-year.
• Operating Margin: The operating margin remained stable at 23.4% in Q3 2025, in line with the prior year's quarter, showcasing consistent operational efficiency.

Here's the quick math: A 32.1% EBITDA margin on a non-cyclical revenue base is attractive, but still, you need to watch that funeral volume trend. The strong preneed sales are currently masking the decline in immediate-need funeral services, which is a key operating risk for 2026.

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) Market Position & Future Outlook

Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV) is strategically positioned as a premium consolidator in the highly fragmented deathcare industry, focusing on high-growth, high-margin cemetery and funeral services. The company's 2025 outlook is strong, with management reaffirming guidance for record-high results, including revenue at the midpoint of Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Carriage Services, Inc. (CSV)., which is approximately $415 million.

The core of their future trajectory hinges on disciplined acquisitions and technology-enabled growth in preneed cemetery sales (services purchased in advance), which is a high-margin business. Still, they must navigate the industry's shift away from traditional burial and the significant scale advantage of their largest competitor. One thing is clear: they are focused on operational excellence to drive margin.

Competitive Landscape

The US deathcare market is estimated to be around $25 billion, but it remains largely unconsolidated, with approximately 80% of revenue held by independent operators. Carriage Services is one of the few publicly traded consolidators, meaning its competitive strategy is less about taking share from the largest player and more about acquiring smaller, high-quality businesses.

Here's the quick math on the major public players' relative scale, based on recent industry estimates and 2025 revenue projections.

Opportunities & Challenges

Carriage Services is capitalizing on the fragmentation of the market, where smaller, independent funeral homes often look to sell due to succession issues or operational pressures. This inorganic growth strategy is the lifeblood of their business model.

Industry Position

Carriage Services holds a powerful niche position, serving as a high-quality consolidator with a focus on premium service and local brand empowerment, which is a key differentiator from the more centralized approach of its largest competitor, Service Corporation International.

• Maintain a high return on invested capital (ROIC) relative to peers, demonstrating effective value creation from acquisitions.
• Focus on preneed sales, especially in the cemetery segment, provides a predictable, high-margin revenue stream that mitigates some of the volatility in at-need (immediate) funeral volume.
• The company's adjusted consolidated EBITDA guidance of $131 million for 2025, which would be a record, shows their operational improvements are paying off, despite minor volume headwinds.
• The strategic review of supply chain and procurement in 2025 and 2026 aims to achieve material cost savings, further protecting their strong margins.

The biggest challenge is simply size; Service Corporation International's revenue of over $4.24 billion gives them a significant cost of capital and purchasing power advantage. Carriage Services must defintely continue to execute on its disciplined acquisition strategy and operational excellence to close that gap.