Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,998 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,738 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Service Co. International worth $9,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 110,300.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SCI shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Service Co. International from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.50.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company's stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. The trade was a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.2 %

SCI opened at $78.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $78.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.13. Service Co. International has a 1-year low of $67.19 and a 1-year high of $89.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 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%. Analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. This is a positive change from Service Co. International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Service Co. International's payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

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.

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