Overview of Funeral Home Sector
Both privately held and publicly traded funeral homes exist. There are 24 publicly listed death care companies on stock exchanges worldwide. If you’re thinking about investing in a death care stock, consider margins, financial ratios, debt levels, regulations, prospects for acquisition, and competitiveness.
In North America, four major publicly traded direct to the consumer funeral home, crematory and cemetery companies are Service Corporation International (SCI), StoneMor Partners, Carriage Services, and Park Lawn Corporation. Other companies may have more assets and revenue. Public funeral home companies were aggressive in acquisition expansion in 2020 as long as interest rates stayed low.
Funeral Home Industry Statistics
The U.S. funeral service industry is estimated at $20.7 billion per year. The average traditional funeral costs $8,000 to $10,000.
Most funeral homes are small, family businesses where the funeral director is either an owner-operator or an employee. Their prosperity depends directly on funeral directors. Approximately 89.2% of funeral homes in the United States are privately owned by families or individuals. The remaining 10.8% are owned by publicly traded corporations.
Funeral Home Regulations
The Funeral Rule requires funeral homes to provide written price lists to visitors and share pricing by phone. But it does not require posting prices online. Consumer advocates see online pricing as increasingly important as people may be mourning from afar. The Funeral Rule currently applies only to actual funeral homes and directors, not other providers like crematories and cemeteries.
Funeral homes are used for holding funerals, whether the body will be buried or cremated. Many companies also own cemeteries, which may become liabilities as more people choose cremation over burial.