Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $75.99, but opened at $82.00. Service Co. International shares last traded at $83.15, with a volume of 357,511 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCI has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.55. The company has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.87. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. Equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,588,694.63. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Co. International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 260,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,775,000 after purchasing an additional 10,521 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Service Co. International by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 29,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,024 shares during the last quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Bell Asset Management Ltd now owns 75,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,014,000 after buying an additional 10,433 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,916,000 after buying an additional 2,846,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 491,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,218,000 after buying an additional 150,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.