Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases Shares of 40,458 Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 40,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCI. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in Service Co. International by 53.5% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524,795 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $253,567,000 after buying an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,900,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,899,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,810,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,875,000 after buying an additional 61,838 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Service Co. International stock opened at $77.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In related news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

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.