StockNews.com Downgrades Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Separately, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Up 1.7 %

Service Co. International stock opened at $79.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.20. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $67.19 and a 1-year high of $89.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Co. International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Service Co. International by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,600,000 after purchasing an additional 492,822 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,429 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Service Co. International by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,471,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Service Co. International by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,734,000 after purchasing an additional 328,686 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.