XTX Topco Ltd Reduces Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

XTX Topco Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 52.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,741 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,994 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Service Co. International were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 100.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 400 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Service Co. International by 121.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 708 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Service Co. International in the 3rd quarter worth about $57,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Service Co. International by 258.6% in 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. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Service Co. International by 36.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on SCI. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Service Co. International from $84.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Service Co. International from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.25.

Insider Transactions at Service Co. International

In related news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.11, for a total value of $4,305,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Elisabeth G. Nash sold 56,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.13, for a total transaction of $4,831,893.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 109,260 shares in the company, valued at $9,410,563.80. This trade represents a 33.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,655 shares of company stock worth $9,356,203 in the last quarter. 4.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.3 %

SCI stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $85.95. 974,669 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 905,335. The company has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.85. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $81.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. Service Co. International has a 52 week low of $64.10 and a 52 week high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.19% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Service Co. International's dividend 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.