Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Purchases New Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCI. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 94.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 123,375 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,738,000 after purchasing an additional 59,956 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,388 shares of the company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 4,977.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 155,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,279,000 after buying an additional 152,503 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 263.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 11,530 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the company's stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.68. The stock had a trading volume of 184,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,027,091. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.01. The firm has a market cap of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.81. Service Co. International has a one year low of $67.19 and a one year high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International 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.