Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 53,000 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 3.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,642,748 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,000 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 1.14% of Service Co. International worth $131,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP boosted 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 during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCI shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Service Co. International stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.40. 862,640 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,074,763. The stock has a market cap of $11.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $68.84 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $77.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.40.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Service Co. International's payout ratio is 35.16%.

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.