Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

SCI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Service Corporation International from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on Service Corporation International from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Service Corporation International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Service Corporation International from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Service Corporation International from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd.

Service Corporation International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI opened at $72.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22. The firm has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.49. Service Corporation International has a 12-month low of $68.41 and a 12-month high of $88.67.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 34.30%. The firm had revenue of $544.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.050-4.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Service Corporation International will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Service Corporation International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from Service Corporation International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Service Corporation International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCI. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 48.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 417,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,474,000 after buying an additional 136,770 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 549,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,701,000 after buying an additional 132,591 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,161,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,835,000 after buying an additional 124,151 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the 3rd quarter worth $6,996,000. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 196.8% during the 1st quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 112,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,257,000 after buying an additional 74,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) is a leading provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America. Through its network of funeral homes, cemeteries, memorial parks and crematoria, the company offers a broad array of end-of-life services, including traditional funeral ceremonies, memorialization, burial and cremation. In addition to core services, SCI provides grief counseling, pre-need planning and merchandise such as caskets, vaults, urns and memorialization products.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Service Corporation International operates more than 1,900 funeral homes, over 450 cemeteries and 40 combination facilities across the United States and Canada.