StockNews.com Upgrades Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SCI. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of SCI opened at $86.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.98.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,410,563.80. The trade was 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 over the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Service Co. International

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 100.0% in the second 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Service Co. International by 121.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% in 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 period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.