Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Purchases Shares of 36,293 Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 36,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,484,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCI. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 15.5% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in Service Co. International during the third quarter worth approximately $255,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 5.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 9,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 38.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 5.2% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 1,910,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,178,000 after buying an additional 95,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.00.

Service Co. International Trading Up 1.3 %

Service Co. International stock traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $71.74. The stock had a trading volume of 613,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 820,952. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.52. 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 has a market cap of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.81.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Service Co. International news, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total transaction of $3,469,402.85. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 54,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,099,922.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 8,950 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.39, for a total transaction of $674,740.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,590,270.93. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Steven A. Tidwell sold 45,995 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.43, for a total transaction of $3,469,402.85. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 54,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,099,922.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 202,675 shares of company stock valued at $15,066,906. 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.