Whipplewood Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 756 Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 5,024 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 525,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,981,000 after acquiring an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,459,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,487,000 after acquiring an additional 118,832 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $956,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,281,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Service Co. International Stock Performance

SCI opened at $81.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.53 and its 200 day moving average is $79.81. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $67.19 and a 12-month high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

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

About Service Co. International

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.