$956.30 Million in Sales Expected for Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) This Quarter

Equities analysts expect that Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI – Get Rating) will announce sales of $956.30 million for the current quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Two analysts have provided estimates for Service Co. International’s earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $919.10 million and the highest is $993.50 million. Service Co. International posted sales of $987.54 million during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year-over-year growth rate of 3.2%. The firm is expected to issue its next quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Service Co. International will report full year sales of $3.86 billion for the current fiscal year. For the next fiscal year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $3.86 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research firms that that provide coverage for Service Co. International.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 3rd. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.36. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 40.43% and a net margin of 19.00%. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.

SCI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Service Co. International in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Zacks Investment Research lowered Service Co. International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 19th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Service Co. International from $64.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $76.00.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 116.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,107,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,160 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 7.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,653,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $943,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122,616 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth about $67,765,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 246.1% in the first quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 764,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,305,000 after acquiring an additional 543,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth about $37,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.03% of the company’s stock.

Shares of SCI opened at $66.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $51.51 and a 12-month high of $72.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.84.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 15th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 14th. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.14%.

Service Co. International announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $394.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Service Co. International (Get Rating)

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Funeral and Cemetery segments. Its funeral service and cemetery operations comprise funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and other businesses.

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