Verition Fund Management LLC Increases Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2,527.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 293,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282,167 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $23,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 1st quarter valued at about $917,000. Comerica Bank increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 8.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 80,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,005,000 after buying an additional 6,594 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Service Co. International by 25.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 12,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SCI. Truist Financial raised their target price on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.25.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,555 shares of Service Co. International 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 directly owns 53,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,566,667.36. The trade was a 4.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 quarter, insiders have sold 108,655 shares of company stock valued at $9,356,203. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SCI stock opened at $88.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.83. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $60.60 and a 52-week high of $89.31.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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.