Great Lakes Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,630 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $2,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at $52,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 110,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SCI opened at $78.55 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.53 and a 200 day moving average of $80.15. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $67.19 and a 52 week high of $89.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 36.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.