Steph & Co. Decreases Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Steph & Co. lowered its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 75.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $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 worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the third quarter valued at about $80,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 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 90 days. 4.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI opened at $76.55 on Thursday. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 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 for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. 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.