LWM Advisory Services LLC Trims Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

LWM Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,558 shares of the company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. LWM Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,920,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,473,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Coho Partners Ltd. lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Coho Partners Ltd. now owns 1,899,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,518,000 after acquiring an additional 238,439 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,447,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,722,000 after acquiring an additional 34,596 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 944,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,374,000 after acquiring an additional 123,837 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 899,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,373,000 after acquiring an additional 7,062 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SCI. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

Service Co. International Price Performance

NYSE SCI traded up $1.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $72.93. The stock had a trading volume of 780,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,461. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $52.89 and a twelve month high of $75.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.33 and its 200 day moving average is $66.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Service Co. International had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Service Co. International’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.95%.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 8,950 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total transaction of $674,740.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,590,270.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 8,950 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total transaction of $674,740.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 60,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,590,270.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 16,580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.20, for a total transaction of $1,197,076.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at $71,359,953. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 202,675 shares of company stock worth $15,066,906 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

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.