Whipplewood Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Service Corporation International $SCI

Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) by 60.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 743 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC’s holdings in Service Corporation International were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Service Corporation International in the 4th quarter valued at about $435,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Service Corporation International by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Service Corporation International by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Service Corporation International in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,373,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in Service Corporation International by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCI. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Service Corporation International from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Service Corporation International in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Service Corporation International in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Service Corporation International from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Service Corporation International Stock Performance

Shares of SCI stock opened at $82.14 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.41. Service Corporation International has a 52 week low of $71.75 and a 52 week high of $89.37. The company has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.89.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. Service Corporation International had a return on equity of 32.84% and a net margin of 12.60%.The company had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Service Corporation International’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.700-4.00 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Service Corporation International will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Service Corporation International’s payout ratio is 34.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 7,850 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.60, for a total transaction of $632,710.00. Following the sale, the director owned 36,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,908,692.80. The trade was a 17.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Sumner J. Waring III sold 56,100 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.57, for a total value of $4,295,577.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 295,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,602,851.44. This trade represents a 15.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 252,082 shares of company stock worth $20,117,233. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Service Corporation International 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.