Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $87.51 and last traded at $87.4240, with a volume of 147444 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $86.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SCI shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Service Corporation International from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Service Corporation International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Service Corporation International from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Service Corporation International in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.00.

Service Corporation International Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.61.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 34.21%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Service Corporation International will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Corporation International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Service Corporation International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Service Corporation International’s payout ratio is presently 35.79%.

Insider Transactions at Service Corporation International

In other Service Corporation International news, CAO Tammy R. Moore sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.48, for a total value of $402,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,742,713.92. The trade was a 18.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 7,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.87, for a total transaction of $614,999.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,267,349.56. This represents a 21.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Service Corporation International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Service Corporation International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,339,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in shares of Service Corporation International by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 381,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,723,000 after buying an additional 29,478 shares in the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Corporation International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,996,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Corporation International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $435,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Corporation International in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $832,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) is a leading provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America. Through its network of funeral homes, cemeteries, memorial parks and crematoria, the company offers a broad array of end-of-life services, including traditional funeral ceremonies, memorialization, burial and cremation. In addition to core services, SCI provides grief counseling, pre-need planning and merchandise such as caskets, vaults, urns and memorialization products.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Service Corporation International operates more than 1,900 funeral homes, over 450 cemeteries and 40 combination facilities across the United States and Canada.