Insider Selling: Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) CEO Sells 50,000 Shares of Stock

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Service Co. International Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SCI traded down $1.52 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.45. 966,410 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,355. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.15. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $67.19 and a 1 year high of $89.37.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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, equities analysts predict that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is presently 36.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SCI. Oppenheimer upped their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Service Co. International by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,600,000 after buying an additional 492,822 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Service Co. International by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,901,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,846,159 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Service Co. International by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,239,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,429 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,950,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,471,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Service Co. International by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,650,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,734,000 after purchasing an additional 328,686 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Service Co. International

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.