Corebridge Financial Inc. Lowers Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 163,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,546 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $13,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 110,300.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SCI. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,712,674.96. The trade was a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $78.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.20. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $67.19 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. 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 (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.06%.

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.