Verition Fund Management LLC Grows Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2,527.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 293,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,167 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned 0.20% of Service Co. International worth $23,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Service Co. International by 3.1% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Service Co. International by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 5.6% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 3.5% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total value of $218,810.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,324 shares in the company, valued at $4,566,667.36. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SCI. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $88.60 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.41 and its 200 day moving average is $76.25. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $60.60 and a 52 week high of $89.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The company has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.