In an article that was published on October 1, and I’ll remind our readers that was before Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) had publicly withdrawn its $34 per share offer for Carriage Services, Seeking Alpha authors gave a positive review of Park Lawn Corporation.

 

The article, which you can read here is entitled, “Park Lawn:  2 things are Guaranteed, Death and Taxes”, concluded with these statements:

 

PLC is a highly attractive business in our view. The company operates in an industry that is expected to grow well over the coming decades, with tailwinds and changing dynamics contributing to increased demand. The key downside protection is that the business is significantly less cyclical, as there are really only two things guaranteed in life.

From an internal operational perspective, we believe Management’s broader strategy has been a good one. Its aggressive expansion is taking advantage of industry opportunities, namely fragmentation and high barriers to entry, allowing for an increased share of this growth.”

 

The article goes through 14 separate topic segments ranging from “Investment Thesis” to “Business Model” to “Industry Analysis” and finally on to “Valuation”, “Key Risks” and “Final Thoughts”.

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  As usual, I enjoyed reading articles such as this simply to get somebody else’s spin on where death care in general, and in this situation, where the author thinks one company, specifically, in the space is moving towards.

 

It’s also an article that is probably not written by people in the death care profession and I always find it interesting to see how they look at “our world”.  I find that non-industry perspective very interesting because many times with articles like this I see authors overlooking some of the pitfalls that those of us in the profession believe may be coming. . . . but on the other hand, I’m sometimes surprised by some positive attribute of our profession that I didn’t readily notice until an article like this, by a secular author, brought it out.

 

I don’t know where the author got the information, but they do mention in the article that “The Funeral Home and Funeral Service industry is forecast to grow at a CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 5.6% between 2023 and 2031, slightly improving from the rate achieved historically.”

 

If that is the case that would be good expected news for the industry.  . especially if we can clamp down on inflation to a more historic 2-3% annual rate.  If the industry does grow at twice the expected rate of inflation down the road that should foreshadow better profits.

 

All in all, a good article with lots of information in it and much “food for thought” especially if you are responsible for operating a death care business of your own.

 

Disclosure — The author of this Funeral Director Daily article is a shareholder of Park Lawn Corporation.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Life after Death:  An inside look at the human composting process based in Seattle.  Video story and print article.  Fox 13 – Seattle (WA)
• Taking nature out of its casket with Emily Maroni.  34th Street
• Full Circle Funerals wins national green funerals award.  Wharfedale Observer (United Kingdom)
• Investigation launched into Carlinville funeral home.  National Public Radio – Illinois
• Service with passion and understanding.  The Derby Informer (KS)

 

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