Argent Capital Management LLC Has $3.76 Million Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Argent Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 41.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,113 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,916 shares during the quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $3,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 7,239,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,966,000 after acquiring an additional 2,524,795 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 2,527.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 293,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,152,000 after acquiring an additional 282,167 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International by 646.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 267,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,053,000 after acquiring an additional 231,980 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 23.9% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 1,093,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,721,000 after purchasing an additional 210,802 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total value of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 109,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,410,563.80. The trade was a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Stock Down 0.4 %

SCI stock opened at $76.55 on Thursday. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $64.10 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The company has a market capitalization of $11.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.83. 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 (NYSE:SCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 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 net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

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.