Service Co. International Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NYSE:SCI)

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th.

Service Co. International has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Service Co. International has a payout ratio of 30.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Service Co. International to earn $3.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.8%.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI stock opened at $79.38 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.93. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $52.89 and a 52-week high of $80.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 32.07%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 80,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.97, for a total value of $5,964,792.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at $73,109,359.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Service Co. International news, Director Ellen Ochoa sold 2,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.41, for a total value of $201,875.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 80,638 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.97, for a total value of $5,964,792.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,109,359.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,180 shares of company stock worth $6,376,570 in the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.60.

About Service Co. International

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.