Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Shares Sold by Sanders Morris Harris LLC

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lowered its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 32.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,949 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 258.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 36.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

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 sale, the vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. 4.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of SCI stock traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $76.17. 20,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 852,390. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $64.10 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

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.