Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 331,361 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,661 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $26,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 13,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,072,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 40,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,201,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Service Co. International by 4.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Service Co. International by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SCI shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James raised 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. StockNews.com raised Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $78.97 on Friday. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $67.19 and a 1 year high of $89.37. The firm has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.68.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

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.