Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Trading Up 4% – Here’s What Happened

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) shares were up 4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.68 and last traded at $84.10. Approximately 237,586 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,202,007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SCI shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.08.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 36.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,712,674.96. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,900,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,899,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 16.1% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,175,000 after purchasing an additional 7,343 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Service Co. International Company Profile

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.