Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stake Increased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,992 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCI. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,920,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,473,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. now owns 1,899,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,518,000 after acquiring an additional 238,439 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 2.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,447,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,722,000 after acquiring an additional 34,596 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 15.1% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 944,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,374,000 after acquiring an additional 123,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Service Co. International by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 899,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,373,000 after buying an additional 7,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SCI. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total value of $5,514,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,674,478.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total value of $5,514,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,674,478.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total transaction of $457,437.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 597,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,475,372.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 202,675 shares of company stock valued at $15,066,906. Corporate insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.15. 219,503 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 822,076. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. Service Co. International has a one year low of $52.89 and a one year high of $75.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.46.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.95%.

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.