First Manhattan CO. LLC. Has $97.29 Million Stock Position in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lessened its stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,217,354 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,226 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $97,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Service Co. International by 359.8% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in Service Co. International during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Service Co. International in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. 85.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on SCI shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Service Co. International from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Service Co. International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Service Co. International presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Service Co. International Stock Performance

NYSE:SCI opened at $75.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96. Service Co. International has a twelve month low of $68.51 and a twelve month high of $89.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.42 and a 200-day moving average of $80.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. Service Co. International had a net margin of 12.39% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Service Co. International’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Service Co. International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Service Co. International’s payout ratio is 35.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Co. International news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the business’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 approximately $3,712,674.96. The trade was a 12.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 982,333 shares in the company, valued at $83,066,078.48. This trade represents a 4.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

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.