Tufton Capital Management Has $319,000 Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Tufton Capital Management lowered its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after buying an additional 11,530 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 7,802.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 7,490 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,721,000 after purchasing an additional 210,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 185,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SCI shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $80.54 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $67.19 and a 12-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. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. Research analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 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 Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.06%.

Service Co. International Profile

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.