Centiva Capital LP Acquires New Shares in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,806,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Service Co. International by 97.9% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 40,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,263,000 after buying an additional 20,224 shares in the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,780,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $843,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Service Co. International by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 5,106 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,525,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.02. 371,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,051,201. The stock has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $68.51 and a 1 year high of $89.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

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

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the 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 owns 982,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84% 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. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research 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 an average 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.