Natixis Advisors L.P. Grows Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 55.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 222,819 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 79,378 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.15% of Service Co. International worth $15,251,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in Service Co. International by 87.4% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 53,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,055,000 after acquiring an additional 24,941 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Service Co. International by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 673,914 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,129,000 after acquiring an additional 20,879 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Service Co. International in the third quarter valued at about $4,712,000. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in Service Co. International in the third quarter valued at about $344,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Service Co. International by 45.4% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,224 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victor L. Lund sold 7,606 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $532,420.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total value of $5,514,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $72,674,478.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victor L. Lund sold 7,606 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.00, for a total transaction of $532,420.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 211,292 shares of company stock worth $15,670,096. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.00.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE SCI traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,182,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,529. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.14 and a 200 day moving average of $67.44. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $52.89 and a twelve month high of $75.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.73% and a return on equity of 32.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Service Co. International Company Profile

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses. The company also provides professional services related to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral home facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services.