Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Shares Acquired by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 26,978 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $2,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 263.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 11,530 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 181,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after acquiring an additional 19,418 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 7,802.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,490 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,171,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SCI. Oppenheimer lifted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $77.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.11. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $89.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203 in the last quarter. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Service Co. International Company 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.