Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Separately, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

NYSE:SCI traded down $0.66 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.12. 1,164,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 955,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $78.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.16. Service Co. International has a fifty-two week low of $67.19 and a fifty-two week high of $89.37.

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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, 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 anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 1.64%. Service Co. International's payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value 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 trade represents a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Service Co. International

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 359.8% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

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.