Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Stewart Information Services from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

STC stock opened at $70.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15 and a beta of 1.22. Stewart Information Services has a twelve month low of $56.16 and a twelve month high of $78.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.15.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Analysts predict that Stewart Information Services will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. This represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Stewart Information Services by 149.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 342,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,568,000 after purchasing an additional 204,688 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,488,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,979,000 after buying an additional 8,853 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 66,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,938,000 after buying an additional 3,272 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $47,151,000 after buying an additional 8,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $503,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.