Hantz Financial Services Inc. Sells 306 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,162 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 6.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the 2nd quarter worth $897,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,171,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Service Co. International by 646.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 267,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,053,000 after purchasing an additional 231,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the second quarter valued at about $426,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $78.09 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total transaction of $218,810.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. This trade represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. Raymond James raised 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 note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.