Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of STC stock opened at $68.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.46 and a 200-day moving average of $70.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Stewart Information Services has a 1-year low of $58.23 and a 1-year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total value of $956,073.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. This trade represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of STC. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 204,688 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 16.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,247,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,258,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,330,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 7.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 985,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $73,669,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,034,000. 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.