Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SCI. Raymond James increased their price target 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. Truist Financial raised their price target on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.3 %

SCI opened at $78.69 on Tuesday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $67.19 and a 12 month high of $89.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.59. The company has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.87.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. On average, equities analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.85 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Co. International

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCI. FMR LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International by 300.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,126,000 after buying an additional 3,043,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,498,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 237.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 911,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,739,000 after purchasing an additional 641,552 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,600,000 after purchasing an additional 492,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 19,170.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 333,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,593,000 after acquiring an additional 334,904 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Service Co. International

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.