Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Increases Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 448.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,830 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,277 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.07% of Service Co. International worth $8,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SCI. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $253,567,000 after buying an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,471,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,459,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,487,000 after acquiring an additional 118,832 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,498,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 959,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,613,000 after purchasing an additional 13,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on SCI. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insider Activity

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,712,674.96. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $81.31 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.24. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $67.19 and a 1 year high of $89.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting 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, equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

Service Co. International Company 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.