Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 5,024 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 37.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,433 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,024 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Service Co. International were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Service Co. International by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 110,300.0% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Service Co. International by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Service Co. International by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,936 shares of the company's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCI. StockNews.com lowered Service Co. International from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI remained flat at $79.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. 1,264,318 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,238,081. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $67.19 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37. The business's 50 day moving average price is $78.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International's payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

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.