Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Buys 7,579 Shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,708 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,579 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $17,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Service Co. International by 10.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Service Co. International by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 32,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,000 after buying an additional 8,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Service Co. International by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 17,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SCI opened at $72.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Service Co. International has a 1 year low of $52.89 and a 1 year high of $75.97. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.51.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Service Co. International had a net margin of 13.11% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Service Co. International will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Co. International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Service Co. International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SCI. UBS Group raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Service Co. International from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 16,580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.20, for a total value of $1,197,076.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at $71,359,953. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Service Co. International news, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.53, for a total transaction of $5,514,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,674,478.45. The transaction 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 16,580 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.20, for a total value of $1,197,076.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 988,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,359,953. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 202,675 shares of company stock valued at $15,066,906. Insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Company Profile

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.