How to Make a Killing in the Death Business

The Bristol, Pa., company, a structured partnership founded in 1999, operates 27 funeral homes and 178 cemeteries in 21 states. It has been making acquisitions, the benefits of which have yet to peak. In April, StoneMore bought two more independent businesses and it's looking for more.

On the conference call, the finance chief said we can expect the great performance to continue as pre-need contracts are up and funeral home business is up. StoneMor is cutting corporate overhead by decreasing employee benefits and having employees pay higher co-pays. That's all good news for the bottom line, just not great for employees who now have to pay a higher premium for their health care.

Next up is Stewart Enterprises(STEI Quote), which held its third-quarter conference call earlier this month. This Louisiana-based company reported a drop in revenue -- to $128.3 million from $129.3 million -- but indicated that in its previous fiscal year it got a lot of insurance money from Hurricane Katrina.

Profit rose more than 10% to $8.1 million from $7.3 million. On a non-GAAP basis, gross profit rose 36% after adjusting for all the Katrina payout. The company, which financed a stock repurchase of 7.7 million shares using debt, indicated that the next time it undertakes a share-repurchase, it will fund it using only cash flow.