Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 3,473 Shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,019 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,473 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Service Corporation International were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company's stock worth $550,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,159 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Service Corporation International during the 4th quarter worth $96,498,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Service Corporation International by 237.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 911,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,739,000 after acquiring an additional 641,552 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Service Corporation International by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $714,600,000 after acquiring an additional 492,822 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Service Corporation International by 19,170.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 333,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,593,000 after acquiring an additional 334,904 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Service Corporation International Price Performance

SCI stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.78. 625,042 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,061,991. Service Corporation International has a 52-week low of $70.46 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.56.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. Service Corporation International had a return on equity of 32.35% and a net margin of 12.58%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Service Corporation International's revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Service Corporation International's payout ratio is 35.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $410,076.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,938 shares in the company, valued at $3,336,651.72. The trade was a 10.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCI. Wall Street Zen upgraded Service Corporation International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Service Corporation International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Corporation International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.25.

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.