Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 18,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 5,024 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 525,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,981,000 after buying an additional 3,360 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,459,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,487,000 after buying an additional 118,832 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $956,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,281,000. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of SCI opened at $81.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.53 and its 200 day moving average is $79.81. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $67.19 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. Sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCI shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Company 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.