Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

NYSE:STC opened at $67.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.76. Stewart Information Services has a 1-year low of $56.39 and a 1-year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 3.29% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The company had revenue of $721.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is presently 67.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In related news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total value of $371,932.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total transaction of $143,203.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,757,736.01. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 138.3% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 2,735.8% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 70.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,271 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 216.1% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 1,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 46.6% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,094 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company Profile

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.