Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Short Interest Down 18.1% in December

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,330,000 shares, a decrease of 18.1% from the December 15th total of 7,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 914,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $76.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.81. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Service Co. International

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043,354 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 53.5% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,966,000 after buying an additional 2,524,795 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 2,527.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 293,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,152,000 after acquiring an additional 282,167 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 646.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 267,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,053,000 after purchasing an additional 231,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Service Co. International by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,721,000 after buying an additional 210,802 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James upped their target price on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

About Service Co. International

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.