Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) to Issue $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

Service Co. International has increased its dividend by an average of 12.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years.

Service Co. International Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SCI opened at $69.35 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $72.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.55. The stock has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.81. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $52.89 and a 12 month high of $75.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 12.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total transaction of $5,514,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,674,478.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Victor L. Lund sold 7,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $532,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total transaction of $5,514,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at $72,674,478.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 211,292 shares of company stock valued at $15,670,096. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International presently has an average 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.