Carriage Services (CSV) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, HI or CSV?

Hillenbrand has a beta of 1.47, meaning that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carriage Services has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation and earnings, HI or CSV?

Carriage Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Hillenbrand	$3.18B	0.54	-$211M	-$0.25	-98.32
Carriage Services	$404.20M	1.66	$32.95M	$3.33	12.85

Is HI or CSV more profitable?

Carriage Services has a net margin of 12.85% compared to Hillenbrand's net margin of -0.63%. Carriage Services' return on equity of 21.63% beat Hillenbrand's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hillenbrand	-0.63%	13.53%	3.82%
Carriage Services	12.85%	21.63%	3.66%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in HI or CSV?

89.1% of Hillenbrand shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.5% of Carriage Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Hillenbrand shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% 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 company is poised for long-term growth.

Is HI or CSV a better dividend stock?

Hillenbrand pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Carriage Services pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Hillenbrand pays out -360.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Carriage Services pays out 13.5% 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 raised 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 HI or CSV?

In the previous week, Carriage Services had 3 more articles in the media than Hillenbrand. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Carriage Services and 4 mentions for Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Carriage Services' score of 0.34 indicating that Hillenbrand is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hillenbrand	0 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Carriage Services	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend HI or CSV?

Hillenbrand currently has a consensus target price of $32.00, suggesting a potential upside of 30.19%. Carriage Services has a consensus target price of $58.67, suggesting a potential upside of 37.06%. Given Carriage Services' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Carriage Services is more favorable than Hillenbrand.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hillenbrand	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Carriage Services	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.25

Summary

Carriage Services beats Hillenbrand on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.