Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reissued their overweight rating on shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $79.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.33.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of STC opened at $62.45 on Thursday. Stewart Information Services has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $65.35. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 1.83%. The firm had revenue of $554.32 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total value of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 76,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,851,076.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of STC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Stewart Information Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Azarias Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 107.8% in the third quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 160,856 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,045,000 after acquiring an additional 83,452 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 6.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 215.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,550 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company Profile

Stewart Information Services Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance and real estate transaction related services in the United States and internationally. The company involves in searching, examining, closing, and insuring the condition of the title to real property. It also offers home and personal insurance services; services for tax-deferred exchanges; and digital customer engagement platform services.