Perpetual Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,609 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,117 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd owned about 0.08% of Service Co. International worth $8,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Service Co. International in the first quarter worth $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 16.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Symmetry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Service Co. International in the first quarter worth $208,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 358,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,551,000 after acquiring an additional 23,007 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Victor L. Lund sold 1,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $70,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,606 shares in the company, valued at $532,420. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,900 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.38, for a total value of $209,902.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,388,327.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victor L. Lund sold 1,011 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total value of $70,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $532,420. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,517 shares of company stock worth $813,092 over the last three months. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on Service Co. International from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.80.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI opened at $72.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The company has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.85. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $52.89 and a 12-month high of $75.97.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.23% and a net margin of 12.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.48%.

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.