Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Receives $69.33 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the three analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.33.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens boosted their price target on Stewart Information Services from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock opened at $59.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.34 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 2.11. Stewart Information Services has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $65.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.94.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $582.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.46 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 1.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is 171.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total value of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,851,076.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services during the 1st quarter worth $4,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services during the 4th quarter worth $422,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,906,475 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $112,005,000 after buying an additional 26,897 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 90,899 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,340,000 after buying an additional 4,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.