Atomi Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,538 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 53.5% during the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524,795 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,567,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1.9% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,900,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,899,000 after acquiring an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 3.5% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,810,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,875,000 after acquiring an additional 61,838 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total transaction of $218,810.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price target 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 upgraded 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI stock opened at $77.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.07. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $89.37. The company has a market cap of $11.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.87.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.