Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $26.60 Million Stock Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 337,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 147,648 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Service Co. International worth $26,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,942,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,183,000 after acquiring an additional 135,017 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 12.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 181,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,358,000 after acquiring an additional 19,418 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 7,802.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 14.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,400,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,171,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,588,694.63. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:SCI opened at $80.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $89.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.85.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SCI. Truist Financial upped 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. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

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.