Elisabeth G. Nash Sells 56,100 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stock

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at $9,410,563.80. The trade was a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $86.11 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $60.23 and a 12-month high of $88.32. The company has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Co. International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCI. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524,795 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Service Co. International by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,567,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 1st quarter worth about $224,137,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 7.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,942,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,183,000 after buying an additional 135,017 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on SCI. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.25.

About Service Co. International

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services.