Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Rating Reiterated by Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $79.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stewart Information Services has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $69.33.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:STC opened at $62.45 on Thursday. Stewart Information Services has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $65.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.97.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 1.83%. The firm had revenue of $554.32 million during the quarter. Equities analysts predict that Stewart Information Services will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In related news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total transaction of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,851,076.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.6% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 89,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 12.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,266 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.