GTS Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 3,424 Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Service Co. International by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 123,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,738,000 after acquiring an additional 59,956 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $435,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,656 shares of the company's stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE SCI traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.06. 879,907 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,067,485. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $77.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.73. Service Co. International has a one year low of $68.84 and a one year high of $89.37. The company has a market cap of $11.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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 business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Service Co. International's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Service Co. International's payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total transaction of $410,076.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,336,651.72. This trade represents a 10.94% 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.25.

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.