Service Corporation Internation (SCI) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
You can invest in Service Corporation International (SCI) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through a consumer-services or small-cap value ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. SCI is the largest deathcare company in North America, operating funeral homes and cemeteries under brands like Dignity Memorial, and the core of the story is a defensive, demographically driven business with a large preneed backlog of prepaid, contracted future revenue. The single most important thing to understand is that this is a slow-and-steady, recession-resistant compounder whose growth leans on an aging population, steady price increases, and buybacks rather than on rapid expansion.
SCI stock price
As of 2026-07-22, Service Corporation Internation (SCI) last closed at $77.35, up 0.7% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $68.77 and $87.73.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Service Corporation Internation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Service Corporation Internation (SCI) do?
Service Corporation International is North America's largest provider of funeral, cemetery, and cremation services, serving roughly 700,000 families a year under well-known brands led by Dignity Memorial. As of March 2026 it owned and operated about 1,487 funeral service locations and 503 cemeteries across 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Its business has two main sides: atneed sales (services purchased at the time of a death) and preneed sales (arrangements bought and paid for in advance), the latter of which builds a large backlog of contracted future revenue, reported at roughly $16 billion as of the end of 2024. That backlog, funded through trusts and insurance, is the financial engine that makes SCI unusually predictable for a consumer-services company.
The investment picture in mid-2026 is one of a mature, defensive compounder rather than a fast grower. Q1 2026 revenue was about $1.10 billion, up roughly 2.1% year over year, with diluted EPS near $0.97, and the company reaffirmed full-year normalized EPS guidance of about $4.05 to $4.35. Under the surface, comparable funeral volumes fell about 6% in the quarter (a normalization after elevated pandemic-era death rates) while cemetery revenue and preneed sales production grew, showing the mix shift the company has been managing. SCI generated roughly $334 million of operating cash flow in Q1 2026, funding about $144 million of share buybacks and about $47 million of dividends, which is the classic playbook: steady pricing, scale advantages, and heavy capital returns rather than rapid unit growth.
What's driving Service Corporation Internation (SCI)?
1. Demographic tailwind and aging population
SCI's long-term demand is tied to demographics, and the aging of the large baby-boomer generation points to a rising number of deaths per year over the coming decades. As the biggest operator, SCI is positioned to capture a share of that growing volume. This is a slow, structural driver rather than a quarter-to-quarter catalyst, but it underpins the durability of the business.
2. Preneed backlog and pricing power
The roughly $16 billion preneed backlog is prepaid, contracted future revenue that converts to sales as those arrangements are fulfilled, giving SCI unusual visibility. Comparable preneed sales production grew in Q1 2026 (cemetery up about 10%, funeral up about 6%), replenishing that backlog. As the scale leader, SCI can raise prices modestly each year and add higher-margin cemetery property and merchandise, supporting steady revenue per service.
3. Scale, consolidation, and capital returns
Deathcare is a fragmented industry of mostly small, family-owned operators, and SCI uses its scale and balance sheet to acquire funeral homes and cemeteries and build density in its markets. It also returns large amounts of cash: Q1 2026 alone included about $144 million of buybacks and about $47 million of dividends. Shrinking the share count and compounding acquisitions is how a low-growth business drives mid-single-digit or better EPS growth.
4. Cremation mix and cost management
The long-running shift toward cremation lowers the average revenue per funeral service, so SCI works to offset it with cremation-related memorialization products, cemetery property sales, and cost discipline. Managing this mix shift while protecting margins is a central operational focus. Success here determines whether steady volume translates into steady profit.
What are the risks to Service Corporation Internation (SCI)?
The most immediate pressure is the normalization of funeral volumes after elevated pandemic-era death rates, which drove comparable funeral volumes down about 6% in Q1 2026 and can weigh on year-over-year comparisons. The secular shift toward cremation reduces average revenue per service and must be continually offset by pricing and merchandise. SCI carries meaningful debt and its preneed trust funds are exposed to financial-market swings, so weak investment returns can pressure trust performance and reported results. Regulation is a structural risk: the company has flagged that state application of unclaimed-property laws to its preneed backlog could adversely affect liquidity and cash flow. Finally, this is a mature, low-single-digit revenue grower, so the stock can lag in strong bull markets even as it holds up better in downturns.
How is Service Corporation Internation (SCI) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Service Corporation Internation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$4.3 billion (Q1 2026 was ~$1.10 billion, up ~2.1% year over year)
- Diluted EPS (Q1 2026): ~$0.97 (roughly flat versus ~$0.98 in Q1 2025)
- 2026 EPS guidance (normalized): ~$4.05 to ~$4.35 (midpoint near ~$4.20)
- Market cap: ~$10.7 billion (stock ~$79 per share in July 2026)
- P/E (trailing): ~19x to ~21x
- Dividend: ~$1.44 per share annualized, yield ~1.9%
Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. SCI trades at a premium to the broader consumer-services group, reflecting its defensive, market-leading profile and predictable preneed-backed cash flows rather than fast growth. The average analyst 12-month price target sits near ~$96, above the mid-2026 price, though targets are opinions and the stock's appeal rests mainly on stability and capital returns.
Who competes with Service Corporation Internation (SCI)?
Publicly traded deathcare peers
Carriage Services (CSV) is the main US-listed competitor, a much smaller operator of funeral homes and cemeteries that trades as the closest pure-play alternative to SCI. Both are exposed to the same demographic and cremation-mix dynamics, but SCI is many times larger and more diversified, giving it scale, brand, and balance-sheet advantages that a smaller peer cannot easily match.
Products, memorialization, and consolidators
Matthews International (MATW) supplies caskets, memorialization products, and cremation equipment across the industry rather than operating funeral homes directly, so it is an adjacent way to invest in the deathcare theme. Consolidators such as Park Lawn and StoneMor have historically competed for acquisitions in the same fragmented market, though ownership of those names has shifted through take-private and buyout activity.
Fragmented independent operators
The bulk of the industry is thousands of small, family-owned funeral homes and cemeteries, which are SCI's real day-to-day competition in local markets and its primary acquisition pipeline. This fragmentation is central to the thesis: it gives the scale leader room to keep consolidating and building market density over many years.
How to invest in Service Corporation Internation (SCI)
There are three common ways to get SCI exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so SCI sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where SCI fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Service Corporation Internation (SCI)
SCI is a defensive, cash-generative market leader in an unglamorous but durable industry, funded by a roughly $16 billion preneed backlog and returning cash through dividends and buybacks, so it tends to reward investors who want stability and demographic tailwinds over high growth; the question is whether a mature, low-single-digit-growth compounder fits your goals.
More on Service Corporation Internation (SCI)
Whether SCI is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is SCI a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the SCI stock forecast.
For income investors, whether SCI pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does SCI pay a dividend?
Build a basket around SCI with Walnut
Use Service Corporation Internation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
Is SCI a good stock to buy right now?
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That depends on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance, and this is not investment advice. The bull case is a defensive, recession-resistant market leader with a roughly $16 billion preneed backlog, demographic tailwinds, steady pricing, and heavy buybacks. The bear case is that it is a mature, low-single-digit revenue grower facing post-pandemic volume normalization and a cremation mix shift, trading at a premium multiple. Weigh both against your portfolio.
What does Service Corporation International actually do?
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SCI is North America's largest deathcare company, operating funeral homes, cemeteries, and cremation services under brands led by Dignity Memorial. It serves roughly 700,000 families a year and ran about 1,487 funeral locations and 503 cemeteries as of March 2026. It earns money both at the time of a death (atneed) and from arrangements bought and paid for in advance (preneed).
What is the preneed backlog and why does it matter?
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Preneed sales are funeral and cemetery arrangements customers buy and pay for in advance, funded through trusts and insurance. As those arrangements are fulfilled, they convert into revenue, so the backlog is essentially contracted future sales. SCI reported a preneed backlog of about $16 billion at the end of 2024, which gives the business unusual predictability for a consumer-services company.
Why did funeral volumes decline recently?
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Comparable funeral volumes fell about 6% in Q1 2026, largely a normalization after elevated pandemic-era death rates that had temporarily boosted volumes. This is a comparison effect rather than a sign of lost market share, and cemetery revenue and preneed sales production grew in the same period. Over the long run, an aging population is expected to lift the number of deaths per year.
Does SCI pay a dividend?
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Yes. SCI pays a quarterly dividend, recently about $0.36 per share (roughly $1.44 annualized), for a yield near 1.9% in mid-2026, and it has a record of raising the payout over time. Alongside dividends, the company returns a large amount of cash through share buybacks. Always check the latest declared dividend and yield before assuming any payout.
How does the shift to cremation affect SCI?
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Cremation generally carries a lower average revenue per service than a traditional burial, so its rising share can pressure funeral revenue. SCI works to offset this with cremation-related memorialization products, cemetery property sales, and cost discipline. Managing this mix shift while protecting margins is one of the company's central ongoing operational challenges.
How can I get exposure to SCI through an ETF?
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SCI appears in various consumer-services, mid-cap, and broad-market index ETFs, where it sits among other service companies. ETF exposure spreads single-stock risk across many holdings but dilutes how much any SCI move affects you. Always check a fund's holdings and weighting before assuming meaningful exposure to SCI specifically.
What are the main risks of investing in SCI?
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Key risks include post-pandemic funeral volume normalization, the secular shift toward lower-revenue cremation, and exposure of its preneed trust funds to financial-market swings. The company also carries meaningful debt and has flagged that state unclaimed-property laws applied to its preneed backlog could affect liquidity. As a mature, slow-growth business, the stock can also lag in strong bull markets even while holding up better in downturns.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Service Corporation Internation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.