Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Oppenheimer lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Service Co. International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.50.

Service Co. International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCI opened at $80.19 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $67.19 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.20. The company has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total value of $515,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,712,674.96. This represents a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total transaction of $4,228,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 300.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,055,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,126,000 after purchasing an additional 3,043,354 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,498,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Service Co. International by 237.8% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 911,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,739,000 after purchasing an additional 641,552 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,952,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,600,000 after purchasing an additional 492,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 19,170.2% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 333,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,593,000 after buying an additional 334,904 shares in the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.