Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New $2.28 Million Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 28,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,281,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Service Co. International by 14.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 118,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,400,000 after purchasing an additional 14,610 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 6.3% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $897,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,171,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 646.5% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 267,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,053,000 after acquiring an additional 231,980 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Service Co. International Stock Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $80.33 on Tuesday. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $64.10 and a 1-year high of $89.37. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $82.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.31. The firm has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.87.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total transaction of $218,810.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. This represents a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $84,588,694.63. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. 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.