HighTower Advisors LLC Has $61.15 Million Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 0.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 774,682 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $61,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCI. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Service Co. International by 100.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 121.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the third quarter worth $57,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE SCI opened at $87.91 on Wednesday. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $61.38 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.71. The firm has a market cap of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. The trade was a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. 4.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SCI. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.25.

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.