Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.50.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $77.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian Glaze sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.16, for a total value of $103,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $814,981.44. This represents a 11.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 2.4% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $556,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 7.0% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 16,116 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $992,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 981 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $51.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Stewart Information Services has a 52-week low of $48.74 and a 52-week high of $78.61. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.93.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.24). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 4.12%.The business had revenue of $895.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This is an increase from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.5250. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is presently 48.25%.

About Stewart Information Services

Stewart Information Services Corporation is a global real estate services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Through its Stewart Title operations, the company provides title insurance and related services that help protect property owners, lenders and other parties involved in real estate transactions from certain title defects and ownership-related risks.

The company’s business includes title examination, search and insurance services, escrow and closing services, settlement services, and related transaction support.