Proficio Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,724 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 256 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCI. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,898,000 after acquiring an additional 14,738 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,452,000 after buying an additional 5,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCI. StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE SCI opened at $79.94 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.20. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $67.19 and a 12-month high of $89.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. Analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

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

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.