Yahoo Finance Here's Why Service Corporation (SCI) Stock Appears Promising
Service Corporation International SCI has been gaining from increased Cemetery segment revenues. The company remains focused on making capital investments to strengthen its network, as part of which it is investing in its current funeral locations, and renovating and updating its venues to establish a more contemporary setup.
These upsides have been working well for this provider of deathcare products and services, keeping it well-positioned for the forthcoming periods. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings per share has increased by a penny to $3.66, which suggests growth of 4.9% from the figure reported in the year-ago period.
Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have risen 6.9% in the past six months compared with the industry’s growth of 2.9%.
All That’s Working Well
Service Corporation has been seeing a rise in Cemetery segment revenues for a while now. In the first quarter of 2024, consolidated Cemetery revenues came in at $440.6 million, up from $419 million reported in the year-ago quarter. Comparable cemetery revenues increased 5%. The upside was mainly caused by increased core revenues to the tune of $18.9. Core revenues jumped due to growth in total recognized preneed revenues, partially hurt by reduced atneed revenues. Comparable preneed cemetery sales production rose 7.8% due to continued strength in large sales activity, along with a higher core production sales average.
The company remains committed to expansion. During the first quarter of 2024, Service Corporation invested $103 million in enhancements to its existing funeral homes and cemeteries, new growth opportunities and future real estate expansions. Breaking this down further, we note that the company invested around $70 million for maintenance capital expenditure.
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Service Corporation remains focused on making capital investments to strengthen its network. The company is investing in its current funeral locations, renovating and updating its venues to establish a more contemporary setup. Management is also elevating its cemetery inventory options with casketed as well as cremation consumers to house a diverse customer base.
On its first-quarter earnings call, management stated that its acquisition pipeline is solid. The company continues to increase market share opportunities through the construction of new funeral home facilities and the creation of new cemeteries in its existing high-growth areas. Management expects total maintenance capital expenditures of $325 million for 2024, which includes investments in funeral and cemetery facilities, cemetery development projects, digital strategies and other corporate investments. Management intends to be at the upper end of its $75-$125 million acquisition goal during 2024.
Road Ahead Looks Bright
Service Corporation expects adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in the range of $3.50-$3.80 in 2024. We note that the company’s earnings came in at $3.47 per share in 2023. The company expects year-over-year growth in EPS in each of the subsequent quarters, driven by increased profitability in both funeral and cemetery segments.
Other Consumer Staple Bets Looking Promising
Vital Farms Inc. VITL offers a range of produced pasture-raised foods. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). VITL has a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 102.1%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vital Farms’ current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 22.5% and 59.3%, respectively, from the year-ago reported numbers.
Utz Brands Inc. UTZ, which manufactures a diverse range of salty snacks, currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). UTZ has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 2%, on average.
The consensus estimate for Utz Brands’ current financial-year earnings indicates growth of 26.3% from the year-ago reported numbers.
Conagra Brands CAG, a consumer-packaged goods food company, currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAG’s current fiscal-year earnings indicates a decline of 5.1% from the year-ago reported figure.
Conagra Brands has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.8%, on average.
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