Aurora Investment Counsel Has $412,000 Stock Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Aurora Investment Counsel decreased its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,225 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,346 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Service Co. International by 121.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Service Co. International by 258.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Service Co. International during the 1st quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI stock opened at $85.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.34 and a 200-day moving average of $75.44. Service Co. International has a one year low of $60.03 and a one year high of $88.32.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. Service Co. International’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Profile

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.