Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stake Raised by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,209 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Service Co. International were worth $5,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its position in Service Co. International by 53.5% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,966,000 after buying an additional 2,524,795 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 1st quarter worth $224,137,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 7.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,942,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,183,000 after purchasing an additional 135,017 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,810,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,875,000 after purchasing an additional 61,838 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Service Co. International by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 946,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,672,000 after purchasing an additional 25,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI opened at $87.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.72. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $60.60 and a 52 week high of $88.32.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. Service Co. International’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on SCI shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

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.