Head-To-Head Contrast: Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) versus Park Lawn (OTCMKTS:PRRWF)

Carriage Services (NYSE:CSV) and Park Lawn (OTCMKTS:PRRWF) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

66.5% of Carriage Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.1% of Carriage Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Carriage Services and Park Lawn’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carriage Services	8.08%	22.04%	2.94%
Park Lawn	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Carriage Services and Park Lawn, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carriage Services	0	0	2	0	3.00
Park Lawn	0	0	1	0	3.00

Carriage Services currently has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.47%. Park Lawn has a consensus target price of $34.31, suggesting a potential upside of 80.97%. Given Park Lawn’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Park Lawn is more favorable than Carriage Services.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Carriage Services and Park Lawn’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carriage Services	$382.52 million	1.11	$33.41 million	$2.03	13.85
Park Lawn	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Carriage Services has higher revenue and earnings than Park Lawn.

Summary

Carriage Services beats Park Lawn on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Carriage Services

Carriage Services, Inc. provides funeral and cemetery services, and merchandise in the United States. It operates in 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; sale of caskets and urns; cremation services; and related funeral merchandise. 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.

About Park Lawn

Park Lawn Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates cemeteries, crematoriums, and funeral homes in Canada and the United States. The company primarily offers cemetery lots, mausoleum crypts, niches, monuments, caskets, urns, outer burial containers, flowers, online and video tribute, and other merchandise, as well as funeral, cemetery, and cremation services. It also engages in the filing of death certificates and publication of death notices; and body preparation activities. The company was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.