Motif Investing Bullish on Funeral Industry

By Dave Westburg February 7, 2017

Motif Investing is bullish in the funeral industry for two reasons: aging baby boomers will increase the demand for funerals and cremations between now and 2036; and 80% of funeral providers are private which provides room for consolidation.  

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Matthews Memorialization Flat in 1Q 2017

By Dave Westburg January 26, 2017

Matthews International announced revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (3 months ended  December 31, 2016).   You can read the earnings release here and the Seeking Alpha earnings call transcript here.  Funeral Director Daily will focus on the performance of the company’s memorialization segment which produces headstones, caskets and urns. Memorialization sales declined…

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Stonemor Partners CFO departs.

By Dave Westburg January 23, 2017

TREVOSE, Pa., Jan. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON) (“StoneMor” or the “Partnership”) today announced that Sean P. McGrath resigned as Chief Financial Officer of StoneMor GP LLC (“StoneMor GP”), the general partner of the Partnership, to pursue business opportunities outside the deathcare industry. Mr. McGrath will remain in his current role…

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StoneMor Partners L.P. Issues $20 million private placement

By Dave Westburg January 3, 2017

TREVOSE, Pa., Jan. 03, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON) (“StoneMor” or the “Partnership”) today announced that on December 30, 2016, StoneMor GP Holdings LLC, the sole member and owner of the general partner of the Partnership, acquired 2,332,878 common units representing limited partner interests of the Partnership in a private placement for…

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Carriage Services Acquires Rich & Thompson Funeral Services in North Carolina

By Dave Westburg November 15, 2016

HOUSTON, Nov. 15, 2016  Carriage Services, Inc. (NYSE: CSV) is pleased to announce that we have partnered with Rich & Thompson Funeral Services in the Strategic Market of Raleigh/Durham/Greensboro in North Carolina.  Dating back to 1913, the Rich & Thompson name has been a prominent name in funeral service in both Burlington, NC and Graham, NC.…

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BUSINESS

Indiana Court: “Death Doula” does not need a funeral director license

By Funeral Director Daily | September 16, 2025

      According to this issue of the Indianapolis Star an Indiana court of appeals ruled in late August that the State of Indiana “violated the First Amendment rights of a Fort Wayne “death…

CANA’s Peer Support Meeting tomorrow night will focus on “Stress”

By Funeral Director Daily | September 15, 2025

    Dwight Thompson, a seasoned social worker, psychotherapist, and former funeral director with more than 20 years of experience in mental health and grief care will highlight the monthly interactive Peer Support meeting for…

Your funeral home’s cash-flow: Investment vs. Enjoyment

By Funeral Director Daily | September 15, 2025

    I read a lot of different articles.  Recently I read an article about investing that contrasted “Dividend Investing” and “Growth Investing”.  The article was very interesting but it also made me think about…

FINANCE

Your funeral home’s cash-flow: Investment vs. Enjoyment

By Funeral Director Daily | September 15, 2025

    I read a lot of different articles.  Recently I read an article about investing that contrasted “Dividend Investing” and “Growth Investing”.  The article was very interesting but it also made me think about…

Carriage Services jumps back into acquisitions with Central Florida purchase

By Funeral Director Daily | September 12, 2025

  It’s been pretty easy to recognize that the management team that replaced founder and long-time CEO Melvin Payne at Carriage Services has been building the foundations of the business in order to begin once…

Death Care Index flat Year-to-Date. . . .Carriage Services shows share price growth

By Funeral Director Daily | September 8, 2025

    There is no doubt that while many investors (and President Trump) have waited for the Federal Reserve to set lower interest rates going forward and negotiated tariff rates lots of other investors have…

REGULATIONS

Indiana Court: “Death Doula” does not need a funeral director license

By Funeral Director Daily | September 16, 2025

      According to this issue of the Indianapolis Star an Indiana court of appeals ruled in late August that the State of Indiana “violated the First Amendment rights of a Fort Wayne “death…

Funeral Directors are heroes

By Funeral Director Daily | September 11, 2025

      The beginning of a recent article on the ASD Blog, authored by Jessica Farren, had a quote without, to my knowledge, an author’s acknowledgement.  I will post it here with no acknowledgement…

Airlines, cemeteries dealing with “Wide-bodies”

By Funeral Director Daily | September 3, 2025

    Just last week according to this article from Newsweek “Southwest Airlines announced that it was ending a policy that allowed plus-size travelers to book an extra seat without extra costs. Under the new…

CEMETERY

Airlines, cemeteries dealing with “Wide-bodies”

By Funeral Director Daily | September 3, 2025

    Just last week according to this article from Newsweek “Southwest Airlines announced that it was ending a policy that allowed plus-size travelers to book an extra seat without extra costs. Under the new…

Cemetery put in trustee’s hands

By Funeral Director Daily | August 20, 2025

  Last month a judge in Indiana removed the obligation of taking care of a non-profit cemetery away from the cemetery corporation and placed it in the hands of the government. . . in this…

Interment eligibility case playing out at Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific

By Funeral Director Daily | August 7, 2025

    There is an interesting case, which you can read about and see a news video of here, blowing through the tradewinds of Hawaii at this time concerning the eligibility of burial in a…

CREMATION

Are we nearing the “Cremation Peak”?

By Funeral Director Daily | September 10, 2025

    There are some interesting survey results out that question if the United States will soon reach the “Peak Percentage” of cremation rates as the disposition of choice.   Last year at this time…

Dilemma: The affluent consumer and traditional Death Care

By Funeral Director Daily | September 5, 2025

  On Tuesday morning I had to alter my running schedule because of rain showers.  So, I took to our indoor treadmill to get my daily exercise and had a nice run while watching the…

Pension funds investment in Cremation is an interesting development

By Funeral Director Daily | August 13, 2025

    Pension funds and endowments have the responsibility of shepherding for safety, growth, and income their assets into a multitude of investments.  I’ve learned that most of those types of investors invest in bonds…

PRENEED

What is the “Data point” for Preneed?

By Funeral Director Daily | September 9, 2025

    It’s s question that I have a hard time answering or getting an answer to.  The question being, “What is the number of preneed policies a funeral home needs to write to move…

Report: Record number of preneeds sold in 1st half of 2025

By Funeral Director Daily | August 27, 2025

    It’s the end of summer in Minnesota and lots of our friends get ready to embark on the journey to warmer climates soon.  So, it is a good time to say good-bye to…

Pennsylvania funeral home acquires “down and out” operator

By Funeral Director Daily | August 26, 2025

    There’s always a risk when a funeral home firm acquires another location.  There’s even more risk when a funeral home acquires a location that has had its license suspended by a state board…

PRODUCTS

Dilemma: The affluent consumer and traditional Death Care

By Funeral Director Daily | September 5, 2025

  On Tuesday morning I had to alter my running schedule because of rain showers.  So, I took to our indoor treadmill to get my daily exercise and had a nice run while watching the…

Airlines, cemeteries dealing with “Wide-bodies”

By Funeral Director Daily | September 3, 2025

    Just last week according to this article from Newsweek “Southwest Airlines announced that it was ending a policy that allowed plus-size travelers to book an extra seat without extra costs. Under the new…

Tukios offers new enhancements for funeral home websites

By Funeral Director Daily | September 2, 2025

    One of the leaders in funeral technology solutions, Tukios, informed us last week that they have brought to market new enhancements for websites that will allow funeral homes to streamline event planning, registration,…