Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys New Shares in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Service Co. International by 2.3% in the third quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International by 1.4% during the third quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $78.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.87. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Service Co. International news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. The trade was a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,588,694.63. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Service Co. International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering.