New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 14,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 263.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 11,530 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International by 7,802.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,490 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 156,086 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in Service Co. International by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,721,000 after acquiring an additional 210,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 185,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,348,000 after acquiring an additional 3,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Service Co. International Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of SCI opened at $79.96 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $67.19 and a 52 week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

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