Janus Henderson Group PLC Lowers Holdings in Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in shares of Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 66,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Service Co. International were worth $5,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Service Co. International by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 114,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,114,000 after purchasing an additional 6,892 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Service Co. International during the 4th quarter valued at $818,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Service Co. International by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 46,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,708,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Service Co. International by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 21,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Service Co. International by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,015,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,039,000 after acquiring an additional 150,539 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Tony Coelho sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Thomas L. Ryan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.56, for a total value of $4,228,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,900 shares of company stock worth $5,153,461 in the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.25.

Service Co. International Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of SCI opened at $78.57 on Monday. Service Co. International has a 12 month low of $68.51 and a 12 month high of $89.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.96.

Service Co. International (NYSE:SCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. Service Co. International had a return on equity of 32.18% and a net margin of 12.39%. Service Co. International’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Service Co. International will post 3.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Service Co. International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Service Co. International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.16%.

Service Co. 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.