Swiss National Bank Buys 1,500 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 333,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.22% of Service Co. International worth $21,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1,032.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,097,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824,050 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Service Co. International by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,458,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,144,000 after buying an additional 1,985,847 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth $87,387,000. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 8,379,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $579,377,000 after acquiring an additional 905,919 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the second quarter valued at about $53,263,000. 84.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SCI shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Service Co. International from $74.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 11th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Raymond James dropped their price target on Service Co. International from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Service Co. International in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd.

Service Co. International Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE SCI opened at $60.80 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.19 and its 200 day moving average is $62.02. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $52.89 and a twelve month high of $74.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.77.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $978.78 million. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.06% and a return on equity of 32.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 36.48%.

Service Co. International declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, November 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Service Co. International Company Profile

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Funeral and Cemetery segments. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses.