Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,646 shares of the company’s stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.06% of Service Co. International worth $7,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCI. FMR LLC raised its position in Service Co. International by 300.6% during the 3rd 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. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 8,471.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 297,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after purchasing an additional 293,785 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 2,527.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 293,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,152,000 after purchasing an additional 282,167 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth $12,975,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,567,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $78.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $67.19 and a 52 week high of $89.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.06%.

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.