Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Short Interest Down 18.1% in December

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,330,000 shares, a drop of 18.1% from the December 15th total of 7,730,000 shares. Approximately 4.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 914,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI opened at $76.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.81. Service Co. International has a 12-month low of $64.10 and a 12-month high of $89.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,410,563.80. The trade was a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Service Co. International

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 75.0% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the third quarter worth about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% 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.