Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on SCI. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Service Corporation International from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Service Corporation International in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

Service Corporation International Price Performance

Shares of Service Corporation International stock opened at $81.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.98 and its 200 day moving average is $79.91. Service Corporation International has a one year low of $68.41 and a one year high of $90.99.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.08 billion. Service Corporation International had a return on equity of 34.38% and a net margin of 12.30%.Service Corporation International’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Service Corporation International has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Service Corporation International will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Service Corporation International’s payout ratio is currently 37.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Service Corporation International news, CEO Thomas Ryan sold 253,391 shares of Service Corporation International stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total transaction of $21,601,582.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,006,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,779,573. The trade was a 20.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Service Corporation International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCI. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Service Corporation International by 7,284.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 12,179,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,184,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014,943 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,904,000. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,295,000. Tulsa Wealth Advisors INC purchased a new stake in shares of Service Corporation International in the second quarter worth approximately $2,111,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Service Corporation International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $80,965,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

About Service Corporation International

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) is a provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America. The company operates funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria, serving families through arrangements for traditional funerals, memorial services, cremations and related end-of-life needs.

SCI offers funeral and cemetery merchandise, burial and cremation property, memorialization products and other services. It also provides preneed arrangements, allowing customers to plan and fund funeral or cemetery services in advance.