Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Invests $316,000 in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 688.6% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 44,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 39,045 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the company's stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Service Co. International by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company's stock worth $131,734,000 after purchasing an additional 328,686 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 359.8% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 388,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,794. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.42 and a 200-day moving average of $80.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $10.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $68.51 and a 52 week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Service Co. International's quarterly revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,153,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

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.