How to buy Service Corporation International stock | 49.89

Service Corporation International is a personal services business based in the US. Service Corporation International shares (SCI) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Service Corporation International employs 25,000 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$3.4 billion.

How to buy shares in Service Corporation International

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Service Corporation International. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: SCI. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Service Corporation International reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$49.89, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Service Corporation International, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Service Corporation International. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Service Corporation International's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Service Corporation International's share price has had significant negative movement.

Its last market close was USD$49.89, which is 5.03% down on its pre-crash value of USD$52.53 and 44.82% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$34.45.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Service Corporation International shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$738.75 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,031.23.

Service Corporation International share price

Use our graph to track the performance of SCI stocks over time.

Service Corporation International shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-11-30.

Latest market close	USD$49.89
52-week range	USD$33.6127 - USD$52.99
50-day moving average	USD$47.0926
200-day moving average	USD$42.9615
Wall St. target price	USD$54.25
PE ratio	19.5424
Dividend yield	USD$0.84 (1.7%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$2.535

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Is it a good time to buy Service Corporation International stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Service Corporation International by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Service Corporation International price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $49.89 from 2020-11-16

1 week (2020-11-20)	N/A
1 month (2020-10-30)	7.73%
3 months (2020-08-28)	N/A
6 months (2020-05-28)	N/A

1 year (2019-11-27)	N/A
2 years (2018-11-27)	N/A
3 years (2017-11-27)	N/A
5 years (2015-11-27)	N/A

Is Service Corporation International under- or over-valued?

Valuing Service Corporation International stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Service Corporation International's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Service Corporation International's P/E ratio

Service Corporation International's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 20x. In other words, Service Corporation International shares trade at around 20x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Service Corporation International's PEG ratio

Service Corporation International's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.5505. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Service Corporation International's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Service Corporation International's EBITDA

Service Corporation International's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$997.2 million.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Service Corporation International's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Service Corporation International financials

Revenue TTM	USD$3.4 billion
Operating margin TTM	21.83%
Gross profit TTM	USD$760.6 million
Return on assets TTM	3.42%
Return on equity TTM	26.27%
Profit margin	13.62%
Book value	$10.004
Market capitalisation	USD$8.6 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Service Corporation International shares

There are currently 5.0 million Service Corporation International shares held short by investors – that's known as Service Corporation International's "short interest". This figure is 20% down from 6.2 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Service Corporation International shares can be evaluated.

Service Corporation International's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Service Corporation International's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Service Corporation International shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Service Corporation International shares traded daily (recently around 879373.94366197). Service Corporation International's SIR currently stands at 5.68. In other words for every 100,000 Service Corporation International shares traded daily on the market, roughly 5680 shares are currently held short.

However Service Corporation International's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Service Corporation International shares, or, against the total number of tradable Service Corporation International shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Service Corporation International's short interest could be expressed as 0.03% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Service Corporation International shares in existence, roughly 30 shares are currently held short) or 0.0298% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Service Corporation International shares, roughly 30 shares are currently held short).

A SIR below 10% would generally be considered to indicate a fairly optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Service Corporation International.

Find out more about how you can short Service Corporation International stock.

Service Corporation International's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Service Corporation International.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Service Corporation International's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 16.89

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Service Corporation International's overall score of 16.89 (as at 01/01/2019) is excellent – landing it in it in the 13rd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Service Corporation International is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Service Corporation International's environmental score

Environmental score: 2.67/100

Service Corporation International's environmental score of 2.67 puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Service Corporation International is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Service Corporation International's social score

Social score: 12.87/100

Service Corporation International's social score of 12.87 puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Service Corporation International is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Service Corporation International's governance score

Governance score: 8.35/100

Service Corporation International's governance score puts it squarely in the 6th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Service Corporation International is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Service Corporation International's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Service Corporation International scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Service Corporation International has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Service Corporation International was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	16.89
Total ESG percentile	13.28
Environmental score	2.67
Environmental score percentile	6
Social score	12.87
Social score percentile	6
Governance score	8.35
Governance score percentile	6
Level of controversy	2

Service Corporation International share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 33.33% of net profits

Recently Service Corporation International has paid out, on average, around 33.33% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.7% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Service Corporation International shareholders could enjoy a 1.7% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Service Corporation International's case, that would currently equate to about $0.84 per share.

While Service Corporation International's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Service Corporation International may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Service Corporation International's most recent dividend payout was on 31 December 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 14 December 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Service Corporation International's shares ever split?

Service Corporation International's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 3 September 1996. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Service Corporation International shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Service Corporation International shares which in turn could have impacted Service Corporation International's share price.

Service Corporation International share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Service Corporation International's shares have ranged in value from as little as $33.6127 up to $52.99. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Service Corporation International's is 0.739. This would suggest that Service Corporation International's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Service Corporation International overview

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through Funeral and Cemetery segments. 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 relating to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral facilities and motor vehicles; arranging and directing services; and removal, preparation, embalming, cremation, memorialization, and travel protection, as well as catering services. In addition, it offers funeral merchandise, including burial caskets and related accessories, urns and other cremation receptacles, outer burial containers, flowers, online and video tributes, stationery products, casket and cremation memorialization products, and other ancillary merchandise. Further, the company's cemeteries provide cemetery property interment rights, such as developed lots, lawn crypts, mausoleum spaces, niches, and other cremation memorialization and interment options; and sells cemetery merchandise and services, including memorial markers and bases, outer burial containers, flowers and floral placements, graveside services, merchandise installations, and interments, as well as offers preneed cemetery merchandise and services. Service Corporation International offers its products and services under the Dignity Memorial, Dignity Planning, National Cremation Society, Advantage Funeral and Cremation Services, Funeraria del Angel, Making Everlasting Memories, Neptune Society, and Trident Society brands. As of December 31, 2019, it owned and operated 1,471 funeral service locations; and 482 cemeteries, including 290 funeral service/cemetery combination locations covering 44 states, 8 Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Service Corporation International is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 2.743% of Service Corporation International shares are held by insiders and 87.094% by institutions.

• How many people work for Service Corporation International?

  Latest data suggests 25,000 work at Service Corporation International.

• When does the fiscal year end for Service Corporation International?

  Service Corporation International's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Service Corporation International based?

  Service Corporation International's address is: 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, TX, United States, 77019

• What is Service Corporation International's ISIN number?

  Service Corporation International's international securities identification number is: US8175651046

• What is Service Corporation International's CUSIP number?

  Service Corporation International's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 783888209