Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes $237,000 Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SCI. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,900,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,899,000 after purchasing an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,175,000 after purchasing an additional 7,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,624,000 after buying an additional 5,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Service Co. International Stock Down 4.8 %

SCI stock opened at $80.11 on Wednesday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $67.19 and a 12 month high of $89.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 36.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCI. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International 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.