Commerce Bank Acquires 1,248 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,897 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the first quarter valued at about $1,509,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $917,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Service Co. International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $360,000. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 80,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,005,000 after acquiring an additional 6,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the first quarter valued at approximately $224,137,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCI. Truist Financial increased 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. StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

SCI opened at $88.60 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.73 and a 200 day moving average of $75.82. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $60.60 and a fifty-two week high of $89.31.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 1.40%. 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 news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. 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. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Service Co. International 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.