Carriage Services is terminating its $100 million at-the-market equity program effective October 4, 2026. The company announced the move, alongside a new capital allocation framework, in a September 30 press release issued at 4:33 p.m. EDT and filed with the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K.
An at-the-market program, or ATM, lets a listed company sell new shares into the market in small batches at the prevailing price, through sales agents. Carriage set this one up on May 6, 2026, with Oppenheimer & Co. and Raymond James as agents, according to its Q2 10-Q. The program ends with no shares sold, on the company's last public count. That filing, submitted August 6, states: "To date, we have not sold any Shares under our ATM Program."
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By the Numbers
From rollout to reversal
Obitley examined the program on June 27 in "Selling Shares to Buy Funeral Homes: Inside Carriage Services' $100 Million Stock Offering." The company ended the June quarter with $2.6 million in cash and $124.0 million drawn on its credit line, per the Q2 10-Q.
The September 30 release does not say whether any shares were sold. ATM sales require a 424B5 prospectus supplement, the filing that registers each batch of shares. An EDGAR search from May 1 to October 4, 2026 returns only the May 6 setup filings and the September 30 termination filings. No 424B5 appears in between.
"After listening to our shareholders' concerns and evaluating our current valuation, free-cash-flow outlook and expected capital requirements, we concluded that maintaining the ATM program was not in the best interests of our shareholders," Carlos Quezada, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said in the release. "We do not believe issuing equity at current valuation levels appropriately reflects Carriage's intrinsic value or our long-term earnings potential."
What the framework prioritizes
"The Company's first priority is to fund the operating and strategic needs of its existing businesses. Beyond those investments, Carriage will balance debt reduction, selective acquisitions and share repurchases based on their expected returns, strategic value and impact on long-term value per share," the release states.
Buybacks are contemplated as well. The company said "we believe it is prudent to be positioned to repurchase shares when we believe a meaningful performance-to-valuation disconnect exists." The leverage target moves down too. "Consistent with these objectives, Carriage is lowering its targeted leverage ratio range from 3.5x–4.0x to 3.0x–3.5x." A leverage ratio compares what a company owes with what it earns. Both ends of the range drop by 0.5x.
The new bank line
"In a separate release issued today, Carriage announced that it has entered into a new $300 million revolving credit facility with a new bank syndicate led by JPMorgan Chase, replacing its existing $250 million facility," the release noted. A revolver works like a corporate credit line. The borrower draws what it needs, repays it, and can draw again.
The 8-K fills in the mechanics. Carriage borrowed under the new agreement to "repay in full all outstanding obligations under the Existing Credit Agreement," the Bank of America-led facility dated May 13, 2021, and that agreement "was terminated." The terms include a five-year maturity and pricing at Term SOFR plus 1.25% to 2.00%, on a grid tied to the leverage ratio. Its covenants, the loan's operating rules, cap the Total Net Leverage Ratio at 5.00:1.00, or 5.50:1.00 during a four-quarter acquisition adjustment period. An accordion clause lets Carriage request up to $100 million in added commitments.
The 2029 wall
"A key objective of the framework is to position Carriage well in advance of the maturity of its $400 million of outstanding principal amount of 4.25% Senior Notes in May 2029," the release states. The 10-Q lists the principal at $400.0 million at June 30 and a fair value of $383.1 million.
The loan also carries a springing maturity, a provision that pulls the due date forward. If the notes are not refinanced by February 13, 2029, the revolver's maturity date becomes February 14, 2029. The company would then face a bank line and a bond maturity within three months of each other.
A footprint that keeps shrinking
The stock program was registered with acquisitions among its listed uses. The footprint behind it has been contracting.
Carriage operated 155 funeral homes in 24 states and 28 cemeteries in 9 states at June 30, 2026, according to its Q2 10-Q. At the end of 2024 the company counted 162 funeral homes in 26 states and 31 cemeteries in 11 states, per its annual report. That is a net loss of seven funeral homes, three cemeteries and two states in a year and a half.
The annual report's net-change table records zero funeral home or cemetery acquisitions in 2024, against seven funeral homes divested and two merged into other locations. The new capital allocation framework keeps "selective acquisitions" as a standing priority. The location counts show what that activity has added up to so far: fewer funeral homes, fewer cemeteries, fewer states.
What comes next
"The Company expects to provide its next operating and financial update in connection with the release of its third-quarter results, at which time it will also provide an update regarding its ongoing strategic acquisition activities," the release says. The Q3 report is the first test: does borrowing shrink toward the new target, and does the buyback language become an actual repurchase?
What This Means for You
Carriage registered $100 million of stock in May and, on its last public count, sold none of it. The program lasted just under five months. The plan pairs a bigger JPMorgan-led revolver with a lower leverage target, and the calendar is fixed: refinance the $400 million Senior Notes before February 2029, or the bank line comes due with them.
*Sources: Carriage Services press release "Carriage Services Announces Capital Allocation Framework and Terminates $100 Million At-the-Market Equity Program," September 30, 2026 (GlobeNewswire); Carriage Services Form 8-K filed September 30, 2026 (SEC accession 0001104659-26-112380); Carriage Services Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, filed August 6, 2026; Carriage Services Form 10-K for fiscal year 2024, filed February 28, 2025*
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