Focus Partners Wealth Invests $818,000 in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Service Co. International by 359.8% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $78.57 on Monday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $68.51 and a 12 month 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. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.23. The company has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 35.16%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $410,076.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,336,651.72. This trade represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,153,461 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCI. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.25.

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.