Aire Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Aire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Aire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 1.1% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 40,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $79.26 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $11.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $67.19 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.20.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SCI. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

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.