Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.5 %

SCI stock opened at $86.55 on Wednesday. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week 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 2.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,588,694.63. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total value of $218,810.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCI. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Service Co. International by 121.9% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International during the third quarter worth $57,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Company Profile

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.