Fmr LLC Grows Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Fmr LLC increased its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,043,354 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 2.80% of Service Co. International worth $320,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 121.9% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Service Co. International in the third quarter worth approximately $57,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SCI. Truist Financial raised their target price on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price 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 sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total transaction of $218,810.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 53,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,566,667.36. This trade represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $88.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.42. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $60.65 and a 52 week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

About Service Co. International

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.