Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCI traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $79.02. The company had a trading volume of 922,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,823. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $67.19 and a 52-week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 359.8% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.