Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys Shares of 9,911 Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Service Corporation International by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Service Corporation International by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Service Corporation International by 12.2% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Service Corporation International by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Service Corporation International by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Service Corporation International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Service Corporation International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity at Service Corporation International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total transaction of $410,076.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,336,651.72. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Service Corporation International Price Performance

Shares of Service Corporation International stock opened at $78.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.92. Service Corporation International has a 1-year low of $68.84 and a 1-year high of $89.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 32.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Corporation International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Service Corporation International’s payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corp. International engages in the provision of funeral goods and services. It operates through the Funeral and Cemetery segments. The Funeral segment offers services related to cremations, including the use of home facilities and motor vehicles, arranging and directing services, removal, preparation, embalming, memorialization, and catering.