New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 17,362 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,053 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,362 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of Service Co. International worth $8,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SCI. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,350,000. Coho Partners Ltd. increased its stake in Service Co. International by 14.4% in the third quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. now owns 1,899,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,518,000 after acquiring an additional 238,439 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Service Co. International by 47.7% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 608,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,796,000 after purchasing an additional 196,739 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 163.7% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 309,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,792,000 after purchasing an additional 192,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 944,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,374,000 after purchasing an additional 123,837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SCI opened at $71.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.81. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $52.89 and a 1-year high of $75.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.36 and a 200-day moving average of $67.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 13.11%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other news, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total transaction of $3,469,402.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 54,354 shares in the company, valued at $4,099,922.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Service Co. International news, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total value of $3,469,402.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 54,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,099,922.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director W Blair Waltrip sold 6,150 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.38, for a total value of $457,437.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 597,948 shares in the company, valued at $44,475,372.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 202,675 shares of company stock worth $15,066,906. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.