Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 77,279 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,915 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Service Co. International were worth $6,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Service Co. International by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 11,530 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,567,000 after purchasing an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Service Co. International by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 185,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Service Co. International by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 920,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,452,000 after purchasing an additional 5,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter worth $3,229,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $78.12 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $67.19 and a 1-year high of $89.37.

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

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 36.06%.

About Service Co. International

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.