Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Oppenheimer

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) had its price target hoisted by Oppenheimer from $76.00 to $79.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Separately, UBS Group lifted their price target on Service Co. International from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $76.80.

Service Co. International Stock Up 1.6 %

SCI stock opened at $71.23 on Wednesday. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $52.89 and a twelve month high of $75.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.15 and its 200-day moving average is $68.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 12.73%. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Co. International news, Director Victor L. Lund sold 7,606 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $532,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Victor L. Lund sold 7,606 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $532,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victor L. Lund sold 1,011 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,770.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 194,712 shares of company stock valued at $14,473,020 over the last ninety days. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SCI. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 1st quarter valued at about $224,137,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,331,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,890,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 430.3% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 357,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,741 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

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.