JPMorgan Chase & Co. Initiates Coverage on Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 34.61% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Service Corporation International from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Service Corporation International from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.50.

Service Corporation International Stock Performance

SCI opened at $81.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.94 and a 200 day moving average of $79.87. Service Corporation International has a fifty-two week low of $71.75 and a fifty-two week high of $85.00.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.04. Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 33.60%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.800-3.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Service Corporation International news, President Sumner J. Waring III sold 30,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.14, for a total transaction of $2,519,142.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 295,192 shares in the company, valued at $24,542,262.88. The trade was a 9.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 42,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.32, for a total value of $3,235,968.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 110,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,395,657.92. This represents a 27.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Service Corporation International

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Service Corporation International by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 10,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its position in shares of Service Corporation International by 0.7% during the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 29,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 43,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,622,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Service Corporation International by 60.1% in the second quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Service Corporation International by 3.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Service Corporation International Company Profile

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) is a leading provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America. Through its network of funeral homes, cemeteries, memorial parks and crematoria, the company offers a broad array of end-of-life services, including traditional funeral ceremonies, memorialization, burial and cremation. In addition to core services, SCI provides grief counseling, pre-need planning and merchandise such as caskets, vaults, urns and memorialization products.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Service Corporation International operates more than 1,900 funeral homes, over 450 cemeteries and 40 combination facilities across the United States and Canada.