Oppenheimer Issues Positive Forecast for Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stock Price

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $86.00 to $92.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SCI. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

SCI opened at $85.86 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.85. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Service Co. International news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised 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 worth $73,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.