Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,136,236 shares of the company's stock after selling 217,218 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.93% of Service Corporation International worth $1,133,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD increased its stake in Service Corporation International by 95.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD now owns 4,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,272 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Service Corporation International by 2.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 345,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,738,000 after purchasing an additional 7,802 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Service Corporation International by 4.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Service Corporation International by 10.2% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 2,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Service Corporation International by 1.2% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 94,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Service Corporation International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Service Corporation International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $90.50.

Service Corporation International Stock Up 0.1%

SCI stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.78. The stock had a trading volume of 106,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,162,314. Service Corporation International has a one year low of $71.75 and a one year high of $89.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.19. The company's 50 day moving average is $79.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.62. The company has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.90.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 32.84%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Corporation International

In other Service Corporation International news, President Sumner J. Waring III sold 56,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.57, for a total value of $4,295,577.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 295,192 shares in the company, valued at $22,602,851.44. The trade was a 15.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 150,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.49, for a total transaction of $12,073,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,067,983.17. The trade was a 13.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 213,950 shares of company stock worth $17,001,787 over the last three months. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Service Corporation International 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.