BDF Gestion Makes New $3.95 Million Investment in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,948,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCI. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Service Co. International by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in Service Co. International by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 8,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Service Co. International by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 34,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Service Co. International by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 2,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Co. International Trading Up 0.9 %

Service Co. International stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.04. 1,186,398 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 925,434. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $52.89 and a 12 month high of $80.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.68.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.07% and a net margin of 12.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Service Co. International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio is 34.48%.

Insider Activity at Service Co. International

In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.38, for a total transaction of $209,902.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,388,327.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Tony Coelho sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.38, for a total transaction of $209,902.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,629 shares in the company, valued at $4,388,327.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 80,638 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.97, for a total transaction of $5,964,792.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 988,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,109,359.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCI has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Service Co. International from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Service Co. International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Service Co. International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Service Co. International from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.60.

Service Co. International 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.