Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,532,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Service Co. International by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 40,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Service Co. International stock opened at $78.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.84 and its 200 day moving average is $80.24. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $68.51 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.16%.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total transaction of $410,076.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,336,651.72. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,900 shares of company stock worth $5,153,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.