Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $1.80 Million Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,483 shares of the company’s stock after selling 619 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCI. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Service Co. International by 300.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,567,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,471,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,459,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,487,000 after buying an additional 118,832 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 959,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,613,000 after buying an additional 13,764 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on SCI shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,712,674.96. The trade was a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI stock opened at $79.81 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.20. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $67.19 and a 1 year high of $89.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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 analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.06%.

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.