Focus Partners Wealth Makes New Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $818,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $76.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,304,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,065,884. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $68.82 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. The company's fifty day moving average is $77.79 and its 200-day moving average is $80.17.

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

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Service Co. International's payout ratio is 35.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on SCI shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $410,076.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,336,651.72. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,900 shares of company stock valued at $5,153,461 in the last three months. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.