Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 263.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,912 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,530 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 100.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 258.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 789 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Service Co. International

In other news, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at $9,410,563.80. This represents a 33.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total transaction of $4,305,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $84,588,694.63. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SCI. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "buy" 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 analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Price Performance

SCI stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $80.76. The company had a trading volume of 404,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 904,807. The company's fifty day moving average is $83.71 and its 200 day moving average is $78.31. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.85. 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 has a 1 year low of $64.10 and a 1 year high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 12.19%. The business's revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Service Co. International's payout ratio 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.