Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Shares Sold by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. cut its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 79,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,011 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. owned 0.06% of Service Co. International worth $6,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,043,354 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 8,471.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 297,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,727,000 after purchasing an additional 293,785 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 2,527.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 293,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,152,000 after purchasing an additional 282,167 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 23.9% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,721,000 after buying an additional 210,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,975,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE SCI opened at $80.94 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $67.19 and a 12 month high of $89.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Company 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.