Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Stake in Service Corporation International $SCI

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Service Corporation International by 23.2% during Q1, now holding 200,307 shares valued at approximately $16 million.
• Several other institutional investors also significantly increased their stakes, with holdings by Assetmark Inc. growing by 225.9% and Quarry LP by 359.8% in recent quarters.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.32, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.6% and a dividend payout ratio of 34.69%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,307 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,760 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Service Corporation International worth $16,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCI. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Service Corporation International by 136.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 782,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,751,000 after purchasing an additional 451,068 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Service Corporation International by 19,170.2% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 333,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,593,000 after purchasing an additional 334,904 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,674,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Service Corporation International by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,734,000 after acquiring an additional 328,686 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Service Corporation International by 3,061.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 297,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,852,000 after acquiring an additional 287,996 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SCI shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Service Corporation International in a report on Monday, August 4th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Service Corporation International from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $90.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Corporation International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 7,850 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.60, for a total value of $632,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 36,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,908,692.80. This trade represents a 17.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Sumner J. Waring III sold 56,100 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.57, for a total value of $4,295,577.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 295,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,602,851.44. The trade was a 15.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 252,073 shares of company stock worth $20,116,529 in the last 90 days. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Service Corporation International Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of SCI traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $77.95. The stock had a trading volume of 700,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,415. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.80. Service Corporation International has a 12-month low of $71.75 and a 12-month high of $89.37.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. Service Corporation International had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 12.60%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-4.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Corporation International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Service Corporation International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.69%.

About Service Corporation 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.