Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Raises Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.31 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Service Co. International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Service Co. International has a payout ratio of 30.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Service Co. International to earn $3.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.6%.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SCI opened at $85.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $64.10 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The firm has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.75 and its 200-day moving average is $77.27.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.64, for a total value of $218,810.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,588,694.63. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SCI shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Service Co. International Company 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.