NYSE:STC Stewart Information Services Q4 2024 Earnings Report $64.86 -0.66 (-1.00%) Closing price 04/25/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$64.73 -0.13 (-0.19%) As of 04/25/2025 04:05 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Earnings HistoryForecast Stewart Information Services EPS ResultsActual EPS$1.12Consensus EPS $1.11Beat/MissBeat by +$0.01One Year Ago EPSN/AStewart Information Services Revenue ResultsActual RevenueN/AExpected Revenue$645.65 millionBeat/MissN/AYoY Revenue GrowthN/AStewart Information Services Announcement DetailsQuarterQ4 2024Date2/5/2025TimeAfter Market ClosesConference Call DateThursday, February 6, 2025Conference Call Time8:30AM ETConference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptPress Release (8-K)Annual Report (10-K)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfilePowered by Stewart Information Services Q4 2024 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrFebruary 6, 2025 ShareLink copied to clipboard.PresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Hello, and thank you for joining the Seward Information Services Fourth Quarter and Full Year twenty twenty four Earnings Call. Please note, today's call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Kat Bass, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Kathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty Company00:00:30Thank you for joining us today for Stewart's fourth quarter twenty twenty four earnings conference call. We will be discussing results that were released yesterday after the close. Joining me today are CEO, Fred Eppinger and CFO, David Heisey. To listen online, please go to the stuart.com website to access the link for this conference call. This conference call may contain forward looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Kathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty Company00:00:55Please refer to the company's press release and other filings with the SEC for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause some of our actual results to differ materially. During our call, we will discuss some non GAAP measures. For reconciliation of these non GAAP measures, please refer to the appendix in today's earnings release, which is available on our website at stuart.com. Let me now turn the call over to Fred. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:01:19Thank you for joining us today for Stewart's fourth quarter twenty twenty four earnings conference call. Yesterday, we released the financial results for the quarter, which David will review with you shortly. I'd like to address three topics in my remarks today. First, I will share my reflections on the progress we made on our journey in 2024. Second, I will share our view on the continued challenged housing market. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:01:44And finally, I'll offer some commentary on our strategic direction by business. Before jumping into these discussions, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of those who have been affected by the wildfires across California. Our thoughts are with the many communities impacted by the devastation these fires have caused. While we are fortunate to say that we did not have offices or employees impacted, we have and will continue to find ways to support these communities in our efforts in their efforts to rebuild. While I am very pleased with the earnings and revenue growth we saw in the fourth quarter, I'd like to take a few minutes and reflect on the progress we made in 2024 to further fortify the company and to build resilience in our position. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:02:29In '20 and adjusted net earnings by 42%, while confronting a multiple decade low housing market. These annual results show we are making real progress on our growth plans and have created leverage in the system that we can capitalize on when the market returns to normal levels. In 2024, we took a significant step forward to fortify our position as a destination for top talent. This dedication is why U. S. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:02:58News And World Report recognizes us as one of the best companies to work for in 2024 to 2025. We welcome countless new families to the company through hiring a best in class talent across the organization. We have a really strong set of leaders at the helm, some more of which have assumed position this year, which is a direct result of our thoughtful succession plan. Our leadership team in my view is now one of the best in the industry and is in a strong position to take the company forward. I am excited about having the opportunity to work with this team over the next few years to take the company to the next level. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:03:34Moving forward, some of the highlights of our businesses, our Commercial Services team stood up dedicated to hospitality and affordable housing teams, rebranded our energy team to energy and infrastructure to more accurately reflect the extent of offerings we now provide to our clients in energy, renewable infrastructure projects, including data centers. All of this structure was put in place while growing domestic commercial revenues by 38% for the year. Our Real Estate Solutions team also saw excellent growth in 24%, up 36% on revenue in the prior year, thanks to continually innovating and improving our clients' offerings. We have made significant progress in our expansion of this business line since the beginning of our journey in late twenty nineteen. We are proud of the growth we have made in that business. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:04:21In Q4, we more than doubled the revenue we made in the entire year of 2019 in this segment. Across the organization, we have dedicated some of our energy to improving company's infrastructure, including technology upgrades both internally and to our customers. We have made great headway in building our operational leverage through global centralization centers and have strong leverage in the system to capitalize on when the market returns. In the third quarter twenty twenty four, we announced our fourth annual cash dividend increased to $2 per share to reiterate our strength and commitment to shareholders. Finally, I'd be remiss if I did not mention that in 2024, we donated over $1,000,000 to the Stewart Title Foundation to 100 scholarship recipients and over 900 organizations serving the communities we live and work in. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:05:13Since its inception in 2021, we have given $2,900,000 to our foundation to the communities we live and work in. And I'm so proud of all the progress we have made on our journey and the real effort we have made in progressing the goals of the company in 'twenty four. Turning to the fourth quarter results, I want to note that I'm very pleased with the results for the quarter given market conditions. From a macro perspective, the fourth quarter was the first year over year improvement we have seen in existing home sales that was preceded by thirty seven months of negative year over year trends. We also now know that even with more positive print in Q4, in the year 2024 existing home sales were down relative to 2023, making the last two years the lowest housing markets we've experienced in several decades. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:06:06Even with the positive Q4, the housing market still needs significant improvement in order to get back to the historically normal 5,000,000 existing homes sold annually. And while we are pleased to see the movement in existing home sales, we believe this uptick to be a point in time trend given the brief rate drop in September. The latest pending home sales data also substantiates this outlook as it is down year over year and less than expectations. However, the uptick in existing home sales in the fourth quarter shows us that demand is very strong even in light of smaller than normal inventories, significant home price appreciation and higher mortgage rates. Over the last year, we have gradually shifted our expectations for the return to normal given the prolonged market conditions. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:07:00In 2025, we expect the housing market to remain very choppy given the prolonged expectations around rates. We currently expect the first quarter to be very first half of the year to be very challenging and a more a transition to more normal existing home sales will start at the beginning of the second half of the year. There are a number of factors we cite here, such as steadily increasing inventory and the effects that could have on temporary or steady price appreciation, the continued pressure cooker on demand and the moving past election uncertainty. That said, the continuation of elevated mortgage rates will likely keep demand at bay for the first few months. In commercial, we see the market growth that we saw in the last half of this year to probably continue. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:07:51But while we have growth, it will remain much lower than we saw in 'twenty one and 'twenty two. Turning to each business, our direct operations segment has most immediately felt the impact of stifled residential housing market. We have remained diligent in managing our direct operations segment, which helped our core of the market and our margin. We remain focused on expansion efforts and targeted MSAs to both organic and inorganic needs and keep a pulse on all the markets we are in as well as those we are not to ensure we are operating to our fullest potential across the country. Chubby market conditions have slowed acquisition related activity recently. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:08:31However, we've been very positive about the future outlook for opportunities and maintain a warm acquisition pipeline in preparation for an improved market. We've also pursued small commercial penetration in our direct operations and have seen 15% growth in that segment in direct offices in 24%. Our top priority in this business is to grow our share in attractive markets both organically and through acquisitions in target markets to structurally improve margins and enhance the resilience of our earnings. Our Commercial Services business has been a strong performer in the last several quarters as we feel the positive effects of our efforts to grow our share in critical geography and industry sectors. We've made a lot of investments in talent across our commercial operations so that we have the right people in place to maximize our growth potential. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:09:19Our fourth quarter results reflect that progress we have made to bring in top talent, serve our customers well and pivot our fair share in the market. We expect our commercial transaction momentum to continue, but manage ourselves with the near term commercial headwinds in mind as we try to stay ahead. Our agency team remains focused on driving share gains in attractive agency markets by adding new agent partners as well as growing our share with existing agents. We are focused on improving our position in 15 target states and have seen solid progress in the majority of these states. Our improved technology integration, support services and enhanced abilities around servicing commercial agents allow us to stand out with our agents. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:10:03We continue to innovate for our agent customers every day and are proud of our recent launch of ConnectClothes, which is a title production system built specifically to cater to our attorney agents. This is a solution technology tool focused on improving agents' both efficiency and economics. We will continue to build on all of the momentum we have made in recent years for our agents in order to differentiate our services and better our offerings for agent partners. Our Real Estate Solutions business continues its growth story as shown by fourth quarter results. Our margins in the fourth quarter were dampened a bit by some one time impacts such as startup costs for new customers and some timing of data contracts. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:10:46However, we expect to sustain or improve the low teen margins we have seen in the last couple of years. This team is focused on gaining share with top lenders and cross selling our products as we leverage our approved portfolio of services. Cross selling in current market conditions poses some challenges. However, we continue to see gains from both existing clients and new client introductions. We expect continued momentum in this space as the market improves. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:11:14Our international businesses, we remain focused on growing our Canadian business by improving our geographic reach as well as increasing our commercial presence where we saw 17% growth this year. Our significant growth in real estate solutions and commercial services has resulted in an increase in our other operating expense ratios. In real estate solutions, other operating expenses are higher percentage of mix due to the use of outside services and data. And in commercial, we encounter higher outside data and search feeds to service our customers. We expect those two trends to continue and we will continue to grow those lines of business. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:11:55Overall, we remain diligent in managing our operations to ensure we can achieve both near and long term goals. We are dedicated to growing share in all of our businesses and we remain steadfast in our pursuits to position each business for growth. We believe in our direction and maintain in our belief that we will achieve low double digit pre tax margins for the macro market returns to historically normal levels, which we'd characterize as a $5,000,000 purchase market. I want to thank all of our customers for their continued trust and partnership. We are committed to doing the best and to serve with excellence. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:12:34And finally, I want to thank our Stewart team for their loyalty and continued dedication to excellence. It has been an honor to lead the company over the last five years, and I could not be prouder of the progress we have made on our journey. I look forward to seeing where we can grow together. David, I'll now turn it over to you and provide an update of the Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:12:54results. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:12:54Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Fred. I appreciate the excellent service of our employees and I'm grateful for the continued support of our customers. Let me also express my sympathies for those impacted by the California wildfires. As Fred noted, the market continues to be challenging with existing single family home sales at multi decade lows and mortgage rates in the 7% area. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:13:19Yesterday, Stewart reported fourth quarter net income of $23,000,000 or $0.8 per diluted shares on total revenue of $666,000,000 The Appendix A of our press release presents adjusted primarily related to net realized and unrealized gains, acquired intangible amortization and other expenses that we use to measure operating performance. On an adjusted basis, fourth quarter net income was $32,000,000 or $1.12 per diluted share compared to $17,000,000 or $0.6 per diluted share in the fourth quarter twenty twenty three. In the title segment, operating revenues increased $60,000,000 or 12% from improved performance in our commercial residential and agency title operations. Title segment pretax income increased $18,000,000 or 65% primarily due to higher revenues. After adjustments for purchase amortization, severance and office closure expenses to segments, fourth quarter adjusted pretax income increased to $51,000,000 versus $31,000,000 last year, while adjusted pretax margin improved to approximately 9% compared to 6% last year. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:14:37On our direct title business, total open orders increased slightly compared to the prior year quarter, while closed orders improved 15%, primarily driven by higher domestic commercial and refinancing transactions. Our domestic commercial operations generated another solid result, improving revenues by $28,000,000 or 50%, primarily driven by higher transaction size and volume from broad asset classes led by the energy, multifamily and office sectors. Domestic commercial average fee per file increased 33% to $19,600 compared to $14,800 in the prior year quarter. Domestic residential average fee per file decreased 8% to $2,900 compared to $3,200 in the prior year quarter due to lower purchase transaction mix. With our agency operations, fourth quarter gross and net agency revenues both improved 6% or $17,000,000 and $3,000,000 respectively, consistent with the direct title trend. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:15:48On title losses, total title loss expense in the fourth quarter was comparable to the prior year quarter as favorable claim experience offset higher title revenues. The fourth quarter title loss ratio improved to 3.7% compared to 4.1% last year. For the full year 2024, the title loss ratio was 3.9% compared to 4.1% last year. We expect title losses to be in the low 4% range for 2025. Regarding the Real Estate Solutions segment, operating revenues improved by $26,000,000 driven by higher revenues in our credit related data and valuation services businesses. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:16:34However, pre tax income declined as vendor price increases occurred prior to customer contract renewals and elevated employee costs as we continue to grow customer relationships. As Fred noted, we expect to be in the low teens cash margin area as these relationships mature. Excluding acquisition and tangible amortization, adjusted pretax income was 6.74% margin in the fourth quarter compared to $7,000,000 or 12% margin last year. On consolidated operating expenses, our employee cost ratio improved to 31% compared to 32% last year primarily due to higher revenues. Our other operating expense ratio increased to 25% as our mix of real estate solutions and commercial revenue increased as those businesses had higher third party costs. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:17:34On other matters, our financial position continues to be solid to support our customers, employees and the real estate market during this continually challenging environment. At year end, our total cash and investments were approximately $380,000,000 in excess of our statutory premium reserve requirements. In addition, we have a fully available $200,000,000 line of credit facility. Total Steward stockholders' equity at 12/31/2024 was approximately $1,400,000,000 or book value of approximately $51 per share. Our net cash from operations was $68,000,000 which was $29,000,000 higher compared to the prior year quarter as result of improved net income. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:18:19Again, thank you to all our customers and employees and we remain confident in our service to the real estate markets. I'll now turn back to the operator for questions. Operator00:18:31Thank you. And we will take our first question from Bose George with KBW. Please go ahead. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:18:57Good morning, Bose. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:18:58Good morning. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:18:59Good morning, Chris, everyone. Good morning. So started want to start with Commercial. And I just wanted to confirm, Fred, you said I think on Commercial that you expect modest growth in 2025. And just trying to think about is that against the full year 'twenty four or against the back half of 'twenty five where the commercial market looks like it's entered kind of a stronger basis of activity? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:21Yes. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:22So we well, it's kind of funny. The market is off really choppy right now. There's a lot of uncertainty, frankly, that's entered in the last month or so. But our view is that it will be single digit, kind of for the low end of single digit growth in commercial right now. That's what we think for the market I'm talking. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:44But there's a it's very uncertain, but we see to your point that the second half of the year was better than the first half of the year last year and we see the continuation of those trends a little bit, although it's very it's a little bit more uncertain right now. But we're positive it will be a bit of positive territory, we believe. And again, it's going to be very sector oriented because I think there's going to be continued real robustness around like data centers and things like that. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:21Okay. And so for now just to think about it as modest growth on a year over year basis just given just the uncertainty that's Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:28in the market? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:20:29That's what I believe. And again, our pipeline has been fine. And as you know, those transactions take a lot longer. So we have more transparency in the shorter window because we have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:20:42So we feel good about kind of what transpired this year. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:47Okay. Great. And then actually in the Real Estate Solutions segment, I guess David noted the repricings that are likely to happen. In terms of the margins on that sort of normalizing, does that happen fairly soon in 2025 or is there a little bit of a transition? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:06Yes. Great question. So there really is two pieces. It was a little choppy this year because of such large growth. There's two pieces of that kind of bump in the night here in the fourth quarter. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:18One is we have start up costs for these big transactions. We have a number of new clients coming on. And if the timing doesn't hit exactly right, you have all these expenses without any revenue. So that will take care of itself very quickly at the end of the quarter. The other is this pricing. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:34So at the end of the third quarter of this industry, you tend to have a lot of input costs around data come in. So those increases for the credit bureaus and FICA stuff, they were relatively material. And we've been working with our clients, right, to get those embedded into the contracts. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:50And so we I feel very good. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:50The team has done a really good job. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:02Our those Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:03client relationships. So I think that's our those client relationships. So I think that's relatively rapid improvement. And as I said, I think this year is going to be a little bit better. For the full year, my guess is that business, it will get about a point better. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:21I think it's $12,000,000 or $13,000,000 or something cash margin because it's settling. We're growing and it's settling. And I should answer that question long term too, Bose, because you've asked that before. In my view of a GAAP, when I get that 11.5% in the normal $5,000,000 market, that market also, that business has a lot of cyclicality to it, right? So our appraisal business, our notarization business and our data business is all very cyclical where we're at a thirty five year low. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:50So I fully expect that thing from a GAAP point of view to get to where it is now to a full 10% margin. And I think the cash margin in those business when we get to a more normal market will be mid teen. I think it's called mid, maybe even a little higher mid teen cash. So I feel good about where we are. I like the margins that we're generating, the cash margins. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:12But I think as the market recovers, they have a shot. That business should get better. While I don't see that big improvement in the market occurring in the next six months, I think that we're going to start moving in that direction in the back half of the year. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:23:29Okay. That's very helpful. Thanks. Operator00:23:34Thank you. And we will take our next question from John Campbell with Stephens. Please go ahead. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:47Good morning, John. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:23:48Hey, guys. Good morning. Congrats on a great close to the year. Solid quarter. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:51Thank you. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:23:53Okay. Let's stay on commercial here. I'm just looking at maybe some of your competition here. It looks like you're going to maybe outgrow both your skilled guys by about 3x on the year. So I know there's some nuances there. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:24:06Fred, you've talked often about asset class exposure kind of mix shift. I want to get your best sense. I know this is probably tough to unpack, but your best sense for share gains versus maybe your unique exposure? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:24:23That's a great question, John. Because as you know, I talked a little bit about energy. And while I don't know the books of everybody else, our energy book this year grew kind of its percentage hits 35% or so of our book, a little bit higher probably. That used to be about 18%, okay? And what's happened obviously is of a surge of some of that in that category of some of the alternative energy, particularly solar, and frankly some of the infrastructure stuff that's in that category for us. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:02So I believe that part of our outsized growth is our mix. I don't know how much. I know our competitors do that stuff too. But I've said that because we I think that's part of it. But I will tell you that when I look at the TEDx categories, our growth is 50%. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:24So we've invested a lot of people in people and sectors and segments to match up with our great underwriting capability. And as I've said, when the company had issues and was sold, our capital was about half as much as it is now. And we were for sale. So with the uncertainty, we didn't get our fair share of the market because of that and now we're starting to get. So we to your point, my view is we've gone somewhere between 9% of the market to 14% of the market or something. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:58It's been pretty material. And I think most of it is sustainable. But again, the reason I say that about the energy is that to your point, if we're out if our mix in that category is bigger than others, we're probably getting the benefit of the growth of that, right? So say that to back down a little bit in a more normalized market. But there's no question when I look at every single category, we are we've grown much bigger than the much better than the market, which tells me that underlying we're doing better. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:26:33And again, we should, right? We have as much underwriting capacity as anybody, but we're so much we started this journey at, like, as I said, 9% share, which was not there should be a better spread of risk in the commercial space if we can invest properly and have the right capabilities matched up to the market. So I'm encouraged by what we've done, but again, I'm happy to say that some of it is the benefit of the that's occurred in the industry. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:27:03Okay. That's very helpful. I appreciate that. And then David, historically, I think maybe the last two or three years, you've kind of talked or expected like low to maybe mid 4% loss provision rate. Obviously, you've been pretty consistently below that. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:27:18It sounds like now you just mentioned low 4%. So maybe tightening that range a bit, but maybe if you could talk to maybe your past expectations, which you built in that maybe didn't occur that maybe you expected or maybe it was overly conservative, just more commentary on that and kind of also what you're seeing on the back book and loss trends? David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:27:37Yes, John. I mean, I think it's just really a combination of the mix. And so we had had a little bit more elevated going back a few years because of some of the international exposure. I think that's moderated a little bit. And then the thing that you always have to be concerned about and that's why we try to be a little more balanced in things is that you can have these, what we call, jumbo or large claims come in and the timing of those is hard to predict. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:06And so I'd say it's a combination of just overall favorable macros and then some of the higher loss items haven't been hitting as much and that's why you've seen the better performance recently. But those are always out there, right? So you have to be prepared for. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:28:24Yes. So I think our guidance is still going to be in that low fours, right, Ken? That's the average number. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:28:30Okay. And then last one for me on the investment income. Just any kind of sense for a broad range of expectations over John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:28:35the next quarter or two? David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:38Yes. I think we've been in that $13,000,000 range. We were a little bit better in Q4. We just had some little bit better volume on some of our escrows and things like that. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:49I think we've been able to hold keep in mind, if you're looking at us versus First American, we're not hair trigger to rates because we don't trade off the money market because we're not a bank. And so our rates are negotiated assuming that the banks always give themselves a little cushion in that negotiation. And so because of that, we don't necessarily go down as quickly as rates do. And so we've been able to basically hold. And so I think unless you were to have a really big extra drop in rates and right now it's one to two maybe three for the year sort of the range of betting. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:29:28We should be able to hold pretty well at the levels we're at. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:29:33Okay. Excellent. Thanks guys. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:29:35Thank you. Operator00:29:38Thank you. And it appears that there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the program back to our presenters for any additional or closing remarks. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:29:47I want to thank everybody for your interest in Stuart. Thank you so much. Operator00:29:55Thank you. This does conclude today's presentation. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesFrederick EppingerCEODavid HiseyCFO, Secretary & TreasurerAnalystsKathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty CompanyBose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.Powered by Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallStewart Information Services Q4 202400:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xTranscript SectionsPresentationParticipants Earnings DocumentsPress Release(8-K)Annual report(10-K) Stewart Information Services Earnings HeadlinesStewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Shares Gap Down After Earnings MissApril 26 at 1:15 AM | americanbankingnews.comStewart Information Services targets growth in commercial and real estate solutions segments amid challenging housing marketApril 24, 2025 | msn.comFrom Social Security to Social Prosperity?In less than a decade, Social Security could be out of money. But a surprising plan from Trump’s inner circle may not just save the system — it could unlock a major opportunity for savvy investors. Financial insider Jim Rickards calls it “Social Prosperity,” and says those who act now could see the biggest gains.April 28, 2025 | Paradigm Press (Ad)Stewart (STC) Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptApril 24, 2025 | msn.comStewart Information Services Corporation (STC) Q1 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptApril 24, 2025 | seekingalpha.comStewart Information Services Corp (STC) Reports First Quarter 2025 Financial Results | STC ...April 23, 2025 | gurufocus.comSee More Stewart Information Services Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Stewart Information Services? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Stewart Information Services and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About Stewart Information ServicesStewart Information Services (NYSE:STC), 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. It also provides appraisal management, online notarization and closing, credit and real estate information, and search and valuation services. The company serves homebuyers and sellers, residential and commercial real estate professionals, mortgage lenders and servicers, title agencies and real estate attorneys, and home builders through direct operations, network of independent agencies, and other businesses. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.View Stewart Information Services ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Markets Think Robinhood Earnings Could Send the Stock UpIs the Floor in for Lam Research After Bullish Earnings?Texas Instruments: Earnings Beat, Upbeat Guidance Fuel RecoveryMarket Anticipation Builds: Joby Stock Climbs Ahead of EarningsIs Intuitive Surgical a Buy After Volatile Reaction to Earnings?Seismic Shift at Intel: Massive Layoffs Precede Crucial EarningsRocket Lab Lands New Contract, Builds Momentum Ahead of Earnings Upcoming Earnings AstraZeneca (4/29/2025)Mondelez International (4/29/2025)PayPal (4/29/2025)Starbucks (4/29/2025)DoorDash (4/29/2025)Honeywell International (4/29/2025)Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (4/29/2025)Booking (4/29/2025)América Móvil (4/29/2025)Pfizer (4/29/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. 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PresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Hello, and thank you for joining the Seward Information Services Fourth Quarter and Full Year twenty twenty four Earnings Call. Please note, today's call is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Kat Bass, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Kathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty Company00:00:30Thank you for joining us today for Stewart's fourth quarter twenty twenty four earnings conference call. We will be discussing results that were released yesterday after the close. Joining me today are CEO, Fred Eppinger and CFO, David Heisey. To listen online, please go to the stuart.com website to access the link for this conference call. This conference call may contain forward looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Kathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty Company00:00:55Please refer to the company's press release and other filings with the SEC for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause some of our actual results to differ materially. During our call, we will discuss some non GAAP measures. For reconciliation of these non GAAP measures, please refer to the appendix in today's earnings release, which is available on our website at stuart.com. Let me now turn the call over to Fred. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:01:19Thank you for joining us today for Stewart's fourth quarter twenty twenty four earnings conference call. Yesterday, we released the financial results for the quarter, which David will review with you shortly. I'd like to address three topics in my remarks today. First, I will share my reflections on the progress we made on our journey in 2024. Second, I will share our view on the continued challenged housing market. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:01:44And finally, I'll offer some commentary on our strategic direction by business. Before jumping into these discussions, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of those who have been affected by the wildfires across California. Our thoughts are with the many communities impacted by the devastation these fires have caused. While we are fortunate to say that we did not have offices or employees impacted, we have and will continue to find ways to support these communities in our efforts in their efforts to rebuild. While I am very pleased with the earnings and revenue growth we saw in the fourth quarter, I'd like to take a few minutes and reflect on the progress we made in 2024 to further fortify the company and to build resilience in our position. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:02:29In '20 and adjusted net earnings by 42%, while confronting a multiple decade low housing market. These annual results show we are making real progress on our growth plans and have created leverage in the system that we can capitalize on when the market returns to normal levels. In 2024, we took a significant step forward to fortify our position as a destination for top talent. This dedication is why U. S. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:02:58News And World Report recognizes us as one of the best companies to work for in 2024 to 2025. We welcome countless new families to the company through hiring a best in class talent across the organization. We have a really strong set of leaders at the helm, some more of which have assumed position this year, which is a direct result of our thoughtful succession plan. Our leadership team in my view is now one of the best in the industry and is in a strong position to take the company forward. I am excited about having the opportunity to work with this team over the next few years to take the company to the next level. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:03:34Moving forward, some of the highlights of our businesses, our Commercial Services team stood up dedicated to hospitality and affordable housing teams, rebranded our energy team to energy and infrastructure to more accurately reflect the extent of offerings we now provide to our clients in energy, renewable infrastructure projects, including data centers. All of this structure was put in place while growing domestic commercial revenues by 38% for the year. Our Real Estate Solutions team also saw excellent growth in 24%, up 36% on revenue in the prior year, thanks to continually innovating and improving our clients' offerings. We have made significant progress in our expansion of this business line since the beginning of our journey in late twenty nineteen. We are proud of the growth we have made in that business. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:04:21In Q4, we more than doubled the revenue we made in the entire year of 2019 in this segment. Across the organization, we have dedicated some of our energy to improving company's infrastructure, including technology upgrades both internally and to our customers. We have made great headway in building our operational leverage through global centralization centers and have strong leverage in the system to capitalize on when the market returns. In the third quarter twenty twenty four, we announced our fourth annual cash dividend increased to $2 per share to reiterate our strength and commitment to shareholders. Finally, I'd be remiss if I did not mention that in 2024, we donated over $1,000,000 to the Stewart Title Foundation to 100 scholarship recipients and over 900 organizations serving the communities we live and work in. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:05:13Since its inception in 2021, we have given $2,900,000 to our foundation to the communities we live and work in. And I'm so proud of all the progress we have made on our journey and the real effort we have made in progressing the goals of the company in 'twenty four. Turning to the fourth quarter results, I want to note that I'm very pleased with the results for the quarter given market conditions. From a macro perspective, the fourth quarter was the first year over year improvement we have seen in existing home sales that was preceded by thirty seven months of negative year over year trends. We also now know that even with more positive print in Q4, in the year 2024 existing home sales were down relative to 2023, making the last two years the lowest housing markets we've experienced in several decades. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:06:06Even with the positive Q4, the housing market still needs significant improvement in order to get back to the historically normal 5,000,000 existing homes sold annually. And while we are pleased to see the movement in existing home sales, we believe this uptick to be a point in time trend given the brief rate drop in September. The latest pending home sales data also substantiates this outlook as it is down year over year and less than expectations. However, the uptick in existing home sales in the fourth quarter shows us that demand is very strong even in light of smaller than normal inventories, significant home price appreciation and higher mortgage rates. Over the last year, we have gradually shifted our expectations for the return to normal given the prolonged market conditions. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:07:00In 2025, we expect the housing market to remain very choppy given the prolonged expectations around rates. We currently expect the first quarter to be very first half of the year to be very challenging and a more a transition to more normal existing home sales will start at the beginning of the second half of the year. There are a number of factors we cite here, such as steadily increasing inventory and the effects that could have on temporary or steady price appreciation, the continued pressure cooker on demand and the moving past election uncertainty. That said, the continuation of elevated mortgage rates will likely keep demand at bay for the first few months. In commercial, we see the market growth that we saw in the last half of this year to probably continue. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:07:51But while we have growth, it will remain much lower than we saw in 'twenty one and 'twenty two. Turning to each business, our direct operations segment has most immediately felt the impact of stifled residential housing market. We have remained diligent in managing our direct operations segment, which helped our core of the market and our margin. We remain focused on expansion efforts and targeted MSAs to both organic and inorganic needs and keep a pulse on all the markets we are in as well as those we are not to ensure we are operating to our fullest potential across the country. Chubby market conditions have slowed acquisition related activity recently. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:08:31However, we've been very positive about the future outlook for opportunities and maintain a warm acquisition pipeline in preparation for an improved market. We've also pursued small commercial penetration in our direct operations and have seen 15% growth in that segment in direct offices in 24%. Our top priority in this business is to grow our share in attractive markets both organically and through acquisitions in target markets to structurally improve margins and enhance the resilience of our earnings. Our Commercial Services business has been a strong performer in the last several quarters as we feel the positive effects of our efforts to grow our share in critical geography and industry sectors. We've made a lot of investments in talent across our commercial operations so that we have the right people in place to maximize our growth potential. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:09:19Our fourth quarter results reflect that progress we have made to bring in top talent, serve our customers well and pivot our fair share in the market. We expect our commercial transaction momentum to continue, but manage ourselves with the near term commercial headwinds in mind as we try to stay ahead. Our agency team remains focused on driving share gains in attractive agency markets by adding new agent partners as well as growing our share with existing agents. We are focused on improving our position in 15 target states and have seen solid progress in the majority of these states. Our improved technology integration, support services and enhanced abilities around servicing commercial agents allow us to stand out with our agents. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:10:03We continue to innovate for our agent customers every day and are proud of our recent launch of ConnectClothes, which is a title production system built specifically to cater to our attorney agents. This is a solution technology tool focused on improving agents' both efficiency and economics. We will continue to build on all of the momentum we have made in recent years for our agents in order to differentiate our services and better our offerings for agent partners. Our Real Estate Solutions business continues its growth story as shown by fourth quarter results. Our margins in the fourth quarter were dampened a bit by some one time impacts such as startup costs for new customers and some timing of data contracts. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:10:46However, we expect to sustain or improve the low teen margins we have seen in the last couple of years. This team is focused on gaining share with top lenders and cross selling our products as we leverage our approved portfolio of services. Cross selling in current market conditions poses some challenges. However, we continue to see gains from both existing clients and new client introductions. We expect continued momentum in this space as the market improves. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:11:14Our international businesses, we remain focused on growing our Canadian business by improving our geographic reach as well as increasing our commercial presence where we saw 17% growth this year. Our significant growth in real estate solutions and commercial services has resulted in an increase in our other operating expense ratios. In real estate solutions, other operating expenses are higher percentage of mix due to the use of outside services and data. And in commercial, we encounter higher outside data and search feeds to service our customers. We expect those two trends to continue and we will continue to grow those lines of business. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:11:55Overall, we remain diligent in managing our operations to ensure we can achieve both near and long term goals. We are dedicated to growing share in all of our businesses and we remain steadfast in our pursuits to position each business for growth. We believe in our direction and maintain in our belief that we will achieve low double digit pre tax margins for the macro market returns to historically normal levels, which we'd characterize as a $5,000,000 purchase market. I want to thank all of our customers for their continued trust and partnership. We are committed to doing the best and to serve with excellence. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:12:34And finally, I want to thank our Stewart team for their loyalty and continued dedication to excellence. It has been an honor to lead the company over the last five years, and I could not be prouder of the progress we have made on our journey. I look forward to seeing where we can grow together. David, I'll now turn it over to you and provide an update of the Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:12:54results. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:12:54Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Fred. I appreciate the excellent service of our employees and I'm grateful for the continued support of our customers. Let me also express my sympathies for those impacted by the California wildfires. As Fred noted, the market continues to be challenging with existing single family home sales at multi decade lows and mortgage rates in the 7% area. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:13:19Yesterday, Stewart reported fourth quarter net income of $23,000,000 or $0.8 per diluted shares on total revenue of $666,000,000 The Appendix A of our press release presents adjusted primarily related to net realized and unrealized gains, acquired intangible amortization and other expenses that we use to measure operating performance. On an adjusted basis, fourth quarter net income was $32,000,000 or $1.12 per diluted share compared to $17,000,000 or $0.6 per diluted share in the fourth quarter twenty twenty three. In the title segment, operating revenues increased $60,000,000 or 12% from improved performance in our commercial residential and agency title operations. Title segment pretax income increased $18,000,000 or 65% primarily due to higher revenues. After adjustments for purchase amortization, severance and office closure expenses to segments, fourth quarter adjusted pretax income increased to $51,000,000 versus $31,000,000 last year, while adjusted pretax margin improved to approximately 9% compared to 6% last year. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:14:37On our direct title business, total open orders increased slightly compared to the prior year quarter, while closed orders improved 15%, primarily driven by higher domestic commercial and refinancing transactions. Our domestic commercial operations generated another solid result, improving revenues by $28,000,000 or 50%, primarily driven by higher transaction size and volume from broad asset classes led by the energy, multifamily and office sectors. Domestic commercial average fee per file increased 33% to $19,600 compared to $14,800 in the prior year quarter. Domestic residential average fee per file decreased 8% to $2,900 compared to $3,200 in the prior year quarter due to lower purchase transaction mix. With our agency operations, fourth quarter gross and net agency revenues both improved 6% or $17,000,000 and $3,000,000 respectively, consistent with the direct title trend. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:15:48On title losses, total title loss expense in the fourth quarter was comparable to the prior year quarter as favorable claim experience offset higher title revenues. The fourth quarter title loss ratio improved to 3.7% compared to 4.1% last year. For the full year 2024, the title loss ratio was 3.9% compared to 4.1% last year. We expect title losses to be in the low 4% range for 2025. Regarding the Real Estate Solutions segment, operating revenues improved by $26,000,000 driven by higher revenues in our credit related data and valuation services businesses. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:16:34However, pre tax income declined as vendor price increases occurred prior to customer contract renewals and elevated employee costs as we continue to grow customer relationships. As Fred noted, we expect to be in the low teens cash margin area as these relationships mature. Excluding acquisition and tangible amortization, adjusted pretax income was 6.74% margin in the fourth quarter compared to $7,000,000 or 12% margin last year. On consolidated operating expenses, our employee cost ratio improved to 31% compared to 32% last year primarily due to higher revenues. Our other operating expense ratio increased to 25% as our mix of real estate solutions and commercial revenue increased as those businesses had higher third party costs. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:17:34On other matters, our financial position continues to be solid to support our customers, employees and the real estate market during this continually challenging environment. At year end, our total cash and investments were approximately $380,000,000 in excess of our statutory premium reserve requirements. In addition, we have a fully available $200,000,000 line of credit facility. Total Steward stockholders' equity at 12/31/2024 was approximately $1,400,000,000 or book value of approximately $51 per share. Our net cash from operations was $68,000,000 which was $29,000,000 higher compared to the prior year quarter as result of improved net income. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:18:19Again, thank you to all our customers and employees and we remain confident in our service to the real estate markets. I'll now turn back to the operator for questions. Operator00:18:31Thank you. And we will take our first question from Bose George with KBW. Please go ahead. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:18:57Good morning, Bose. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:18:58Good morning. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:18:59Good morning, Chris, everyone. Good morning. So started want to start with Commercial. And I just wanted to confirm, Fred, you said I think on Commercial that you expect modest growth in 2025. And just trying to think about is that against the full year 'twenty four or against the back half of 'twenty five where the commercial market looks like it's entered kind of a stronger basis of activity? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:21Yes. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:22So we well, it's kind of funny. The market is off really choppy right now. There's a lot of uncertainty, frankly, that's entered in the last month or so. But our view is that it will be single digit, kind of for the low end of single digit growth in commercial right now. That's what we think for the market I'm talking. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:19:44But there's a it's very uncertain, but we see to your point that the second half of the year was better than the first half of the year last year and we see the continuation of those trends a little bit, although it's very it's a little bit more uncertain right now. But we're positive it will be a bit of positive territory, we believe. And again, it's going to be very sector oriented because I think there's going to be continued real robustness around like data centers and things like that. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:21Okay. And so for now just to think about it as modest growth on a year over year basis just given just the uncertainty that's Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:28in the market? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:20:29That's what I believe. And again, our pipeline has been fine. And as you know, those transactions take a lot longer. So we have more transparency in the shorter window because we have a lot of stuff in the pipeline. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:20:42So we feel good about kind of what transpired this year. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:20:47Okay. Great. And then actually in the Real Estate Solutions segment, I guess David noted the repricings that are likely to happen. In terms of the margins on that sort of normalizing, does that happen fairly soon in 2025 or is there a little bit of a transition? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:06Yes. Great question. So there really is two pieces. It was a little choppy this year because of such large growth. There's two pieces of that kind of bump in the night here in the fourth quarter. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:18One is we have start up costs for these big transactions. We have a number of new clients coming on. And if the timing doesn't hit exactly right, you have all these expenses without any revenue. So that will take care of itself very quickly at the end of the quarter. The other is this pricing. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:34So at the end of the third quarter of this industry, you tend to have a lot of input costs around data come in. So those increases for the credit bureaus and FICA stuff, they were relatively material. And we've been working with our clients, right, to get those embedded into the contracts. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:50And so we I feel very good. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:21:50The team has done a really good job. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:02Our those Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:03client relationships. So I think that's our those client relationships. So I think that's relatively rapid improvement. And as I said, I think this year is going to be a little bit better. For the full year, my guess is that business, it will get about a point better. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:21I think it's $12,000,000 or $13,000,000 or something cash margin because it's settling. We're growing and it's settling. And I should answer that question long term too, Bose, because you've asked that before. In my view of a GAAP, when I get that 11.5% in the normal $5,000,000 market, that market also, that business has a lot of cyclicality to it, right? So our appraisal business, our notarization business and our data business is all very cyclical where we're at a thirty five year low. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:22:50So I fully expect that thing from a GAAP point of view to get to where it is now to a full 10% margin. And I think the cash margin in those business when we get to a more normal market will be mid teen. I think it's called mid, maybe even a little higher mid teen cash. So I feel good about where we are. I like the margins that we're generating, the cash margins. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:12But I think as the market recovers, they have a shot. That business should get better. While I don't see that big improvement in the market occurring in the next six months, I think that we're going to start moving in that direction in the back half of the year. Bose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)00:23:29Okay. That's very helpful. Thanks. Operator00:23:34Thank you. And we will take our next question from John Campbell with Stephens. Please go ahead. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:47Good morning, John. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:23:48Hey, guys. Good morning. Congrats on a great close to the year. Solid quarter. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:23:51Thank you. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:23:53Okay. Let's stay on commercial here. I'm just looking at maybe some of your competition here. It looks like you're going to maybe outgrow both your skilled guys by about 3x on the year. So I know there's some nuances there. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:24:06Fred, you've talked often about asset class exposure kind of mix shift. I want to get your best sense. I know this is probably tough to unpack, but your best sense for share gains versus maybe your unique exposure? Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:24:23That's a great question, John. Because as you know, I talked a little bit about energy. And while I don't know the books of everybody else, our energy book this year grew kind of its percentage hits 35% or so of our book, a little bit higher probably. That used to be about 18%, okay? And what's happened obviously is of a surge of some of that in that category of some of the alternative energy, particularly solar, and frankly some of the infrastructure stuff that's in that category for us. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:02So I believe that part of our outsized growth is our mix. I don't know how much. I know our competitors do that stuff too. But I've said that because we I think that's part of it. But I will tell you that when I look at the TEDx categories, our growth is 50%. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:24So we've invested a lot of people in people and sectors and segments to match up with our great underwriting capability. And as I've said, when the company had issues and was sold, our capital was about half as much as it is now. And we were for sale. So with the uncertainty, we didn't get our fair share of the market because of that and now we're starting to get. So we to your point, my view is we've gone somewhere between 9% of the market to 14% of the market or something. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:25:58It's been pretty material. And I think most of it is sustainable. But again, the reason I say that about the energy is that to your point, if we're out if our mix in that category is bigger than others, we're probably getting the benefit of the growth of that, right? So say that to back down a little bit in a more normalized market. But there's no question when I look at every single category, we are we've grown much bigger than the much better than the market, which tells me that underlying we're doing better. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:26:33And again, we should, right? We have as much underwriting capacity as anybody, but we're so much we started this journey at, like, as I said, 9% share, which was not there should be a better spread of risk in the commercial space if we can invest properly and have the right capabilities matched up to the market. So I'm encouraged by what we've done, but again, I'm happy to say that some of it is the benefit of the that's occurred in the industry. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:27:03Okay. That's very helpful. I appreciate that. And then David, historically, I think maybe the last two or three years, you've kind of talked or expected like low to maybe mid 4% loss provision rate. Obviously, you've been pretty consistently below that. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:27:18It sounds like now you just mentioned low 4%. So maybe tightening that range a bit, but maybe if you could talk to maybe your past expectations, which you built in that maybe didn't occur that maybe you expected or maybe it was overly conservative, just more commentary on that and kind of also what you're seeing on the back book and loss trends? David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:27:37Yes, John. I mean, I think it's just really a combination of the mix. And so we had had a little bit more elevated going back a few years because of some of the international exposure. I think that's moderated a little bit. And then the thing that you always have to be concerned about and that's why we try to be a little more balanced in things is that you can have these, what we call, jumbo or large claims come in and the timing of those is hard to predict. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:06And so I'd say it's a combination of just overall favorable macros and then some of the higher loss items haven't been hitting as much and that's why you've seen the better performance recently. But those are always out there, right? So you have to be prepared for. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:28:24Yes. So I think our guidance is still going to be in that low fours, right, Ken? That's the average number. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:28:30Okay. And then last one for me on the investment income. Just any kind of sense for a broad range of expectations over John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:28:35the next quarter or two? David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:38Yes. I think we've been in that $13,000,000 range. We were a little bit better in Q4. We just had some little bit better volume on some of our escrows and things like that. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:28:49I think we've been able to hold keep in mind, if you're looking at us versus First American, we're not hair trigger to rates because we don't trade off the money market because we're not a bank. And so our rates are negotiated assuming that the banks always give themselves a little cushion in that negotiation. And so because of that, we don't necessarily go down as quickly as rates do. And so we've been able to basically hold. And so I think unless you were to have a really big extra drop in rates and right now it's one to two maybe three for the year sort of the range of betting. David HiseyCFO, Secretary & Treasurer at Stewart Information Services00:29:28We should be able to hold pretty well at the levels we're at. John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.00:29:33Okay. Excellent. Thanks guys. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:29:35Thank you. Operator00:29:38Thank you. And it appears that there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the program back to our presenters for any additional or closing remarks. Frederick EppingerCEO at Stewart Information Services00:29:47I want to thank everybody for your interest in Stuart. Thank you so much. Operator00:29:55Thank you. This does conclude today's presentation. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect at any time.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesFrederick EppingerCEODavid HiseyCFO, Secretary & TreasurerAnalystsKathryn BassDirector - Investor Relations at Stewart Title Guaranty CompanyBose GeorgeManaging Director at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW)John CampbellManaging Director at Stephens Inc.Powered by