Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Buys 641,552 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 237.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 911,294 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 641,552 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.63% of Service Co. International worth $72,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,498,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 8,471.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 297,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,727,000 after buying an additional 293,785 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,975,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,211,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,567,000 after acquiring an additional 156,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Service Co. International by 4,977.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 155,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,279,000 after acquiring an additional 152,503 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SCI. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Service Co. International from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Service Co. International currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $83,066,078.48. This represents a 4.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of Service Co. International stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.29, for a total transaction of $515,385.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 46,824 shares in the company, valued at $3,712,674.96. The trade was a 12.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Service Co. International Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:SCI opened at $80.25 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.22. The company has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.90. Service Co. International has a 52-week low of $67.19 and a 52-week high of $89.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.06. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. On average, analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

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.