SERVICE CORPORATION INTERNATIONAL vs UNIFIRST CORPORATION, two Personal Services stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Service Corporation runs funeral homes and cemeteries at a 33.79% return on equity; UniFirst rents workplace uniforms at 6.21%, and the death-care operator earns far more on its capital. Service Corp nets 16.61% against UniFirst's 5.49% and trades cheaper, 20.01 times earnings against 36.04, though it carries heavy debt, 3.29 turns, against UniFirst's clean balance sheet. UniFirst converts less free cash. The pair prices a funeral-and-cemetery operator against a uniform-rental one: Service Corp's pre-need model earns rich, predictable margins funded by leverage, UniFirst earns modest returns on a debt-free base, and the market pays up for UniFirst despite the weaker economics.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | SCI | UNF |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $77.44 | $271.88 |
| Market cap | $10.8B | $5.0B |
| Sector | Personal Services | Personal Services |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | -3.7% | +5.4% |
| P/E | 20.4 | 42.9 |
| P/B | 6.84 | 2.25 |
| P/S | 3.36 | 1.99 |
| EV/EBITDA | 15.4 | 16.7 |
| Revenue growth | +0.4% | +1.5% |
| Gross margin | 26.1% | — |
| Operating margin | 22.2% | 3.6% |
| Net margin | 16.6% | 4.7% |
| Return on equity | 33.8% | 5.3% |
| Return on assets | 2.9% | 4.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.7% | 5.3% |
| FCF yield | 5.3% | 1.8% |
| Dividend yield | 1.7% | — |
| Debt / equity | 3.29 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.57 | 3.11 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.23 | 6.99 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 6 / 9 | 8 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.