Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Service Corporation International from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Service Corporation International from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Service Corporation International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Service Corporation International from $95.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Service Corporation International from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 7,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.87, for a total value of $614,999.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,349.56. The trade was a 21.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Corporation International

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Service Corporation International during the fourth quarter worth about $435,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Service Corporation International by 38.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 121,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,775,000 after purchasing an additional 34,051 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Service Corporation International by 48.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 417,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,474,000 after purchasing an additional 136,770 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Service Corporation International by 3.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Service Corporation International by 32.6% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Corporation International Trading Up 0.0%

SCI stock opened at $77.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.32. Service Corporation International has a one year low of $74.99 and a one year high of $88.67. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.88.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $544.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.09 billion. Service Corporation International had a return on equity of 34.30% and a net margin of 12.36%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.050-4.350 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Service Corporation International will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Service Corporation International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a boost from Service Corporation International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Service Corporation International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.88%.

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.