Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 176,883 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,837 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $13,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,942,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,183,000 after buying an additional 135,017 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 12.0% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 181,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,358,000 after acquiring an additional 19,418 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 7,802.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,490 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 14.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,400,000 after acquiring an additional 14,610 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the second quarter worth about $2,171,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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, StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total value of $218,810.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,566,667.36. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $85.86 on Monday. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $89.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

About Service Co. International

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services.