Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stock Holdings Lifted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,044,495 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,820 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $132,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 8,379,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,377,000 after buying an additional 905,919 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Service Co. International by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,350,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,014,000 after purchasing an additional 256,710 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Service Co. International by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,610,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,488,000 after purchasing an additional 104,551 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Service Co. International by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,458,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,144,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985,847 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Service Co. International by 1,032.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,097,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824,050 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.99% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE SCI opened at $60.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77. The company has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.78. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $52.89 and a 1-year high of $74.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.99.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $978.78 million. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 32.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 36.48%.

Service Co. International declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, November 8th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on SCI shares. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $74.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Service Co. International in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

Service Co. International Company Profile

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Funeral and Cemetery segments. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses.