Eagle Asset Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 47,424 Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 47,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,432,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Stewart Information Services as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Stewart Information Services by 149.0% in 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 buying an additional 204,688 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 10,657 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Stewart Information Services by 58,275.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 4,662 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,888 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 85,302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,375,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:STC opened at $76.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.59. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52-week low of $45.53 and a 52-week high of $76.88.

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

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is currently 94.34%.

About Stewart Information Services

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.