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

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

Separately, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $79.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.60 and its 200-day moving average is $80.17. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, 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 released its earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,600,000 after purchasing an additional 492,822 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,916,000 after buying an additional 2,846,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,624,000 after acquiring an additional 27,429 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,471,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Service Co. International by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,734,000 after acquiring an additional 328,686 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Service Co. International

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.