Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 162,547 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,975,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Service Co. International as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,167 shares of the company's stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Service Co. International by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 40,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

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Service Co. International Trading Down 0.8 %

SCI traded down $0.66 on Friday, hitting $78.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,164,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,131. The company has a market cap 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 12-month low of $67.19 and a 12-month high of $89.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $78.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.18.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. Equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. 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. StockNews.com upgraded Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One 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 stock currently has an average 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.