Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,055 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Service Corporation International were worth $3,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Service Corporation International by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,600,000 after acquiring an additional 492,822 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 70.2% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,159 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Service Corporation International by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,429 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Service Corporation International by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,734,000 after purchasing an additional 328,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Service Corporation International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,498,000. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SCI shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Service Corporation International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Service Corporation International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Corporation International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.25.

Service Corporation International Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE SCI opened at $79.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.36 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.92. Service Corporation International has a fifty-two week low of $70.46 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.87.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.06 billion. Service Corporation International had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 32.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Service Corporation International’s payout ratio is 35.16%.

Insider Activity at Service Corporation International

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 5,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.94, for a total value of $410,076.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 43,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,336,651.72. This represents a 10.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Service Corporation 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.