Steph & Co. Sells 688 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Steph & Co. decreased its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1,032.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,097,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,060,000 after buying an additional 2,824,050 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,458,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,144,000 after buying an additional 1,985,847 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth $87,387,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 8,379,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,377,000 after buying an additional 905,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,348,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,353,000 after buying an additional 448,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE SCI opened at $68.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.20 and its 200 day moving average is $65.97. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $52.89 and a fifty-two week high of $75.97.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 13.11%. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total transaction of $457,437.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 597,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,475,372.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Service Co. International news, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total transaction of $457,437.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 597,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,475,372.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total value of $3,469,402.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 54,354 shares in the company, valued at $4,099,922.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 202,675 shares of company stock valued at $15,066,906 over the last ninety days. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCI. UBS Group raised their price target on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

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.