California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 237,290 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,154 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $18,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 27,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International in the third quarter valued at about $251,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 2.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 35,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,768,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 8,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 94.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 123,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,738,000 after acquiring an additional 59,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $77.06 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $67.19 and a 52 week high of $89.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $11.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,712,674.96. The trade was a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Service Co. International Company Profile

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.