Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) Share Price Crosses Below 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI)’s stock price passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.43 and traded as low as $80.75. Service Corporation International shares last traded at $82.87, with a volume of 654,474 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Service Corporation International from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Service Corporation International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Service Corporation International in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Service Corporation International presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

Service Corporation International Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32. The company has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.87.

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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 predict that Service Corporation International will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Service Corporation International Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Service Corporation International

In other Service Corporation International news, CEO Thomas Ryan sold 253,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.25, for a total value of $21,601,582.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,006,212 shares in the company, valued at $85,779,573. This represents a 20.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Service Corporation International during the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Service Corporation International by 35.7% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Service Corporation International during the third quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Service Corporation International during the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Service Corporation International Company Profile

Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI) is a leading provider of funeral, cremation and cemetery services in North America. Through its network of funeral homes, cemeteries, memorial parks and crematoria, the company offers a broad array of end-of-life services, including traditional funeral ceremonies, memorialization, burial and cremation. In addition to core services, SCI provides grief counseling, pre-need planning and merchandise such as caskets, vaults, urns and memorialization products.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Service Corporation International operates more than 1,900 funeral homes, over 450 cemeteries and 40 combination facilities across the United States and Canada.