Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,043,354 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,567,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Service Co. International by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,471,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,721,000 after buying an additional 210,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Service Co. International by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 959,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,613,000 after buying an additional 13,764 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $80.54 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $67.19 and a 52 week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. Analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SCI shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James raised 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 note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

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.