Oak Thistle LLC Makes New Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Service Co. International by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Service Co. International by 258.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 36.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Service Co. International in the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total transaction of $218,810.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203 in the last ninety days. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.3 %

SCI stock opened at $76.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.86. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Service Co. International Company Profile

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.