Aire Advisors LLC Buys 550 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Aire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the quarter. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,567,000 after buying an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 959,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,613,000 after acquiring an additional 13,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of Service Co. International stock opened at $79.26 on Tuesday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $67.19 and a 12 month high of $89.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change 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 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.