Stephens Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC)

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $79.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on STC. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Stewart Information Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd.

Stewart Information Services Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock opened at $72.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.16 and a 200 day moving average of $62.45. Stewart Information Services has a fifty-two week low of $38.40 and a fifty-two week high of $74.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.60 and a beta of 1.21.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.13). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Stewart Information Services will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $805,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,922,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,963,000 after buying an additional 59,639 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,917,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $422,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

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.