Short Interest in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Decreases By 30.2%

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 673,800 shares, a decrease of 30.2% from the March 15th total of 965,400 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 195,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 337.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 35,088 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,151,000 after acquiring an additional 8,597 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,530 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 205.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,492 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 9,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

STC stock traded down $1.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 71,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,895. The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48 and a beta of 1.05. Stewart Information Services has a fifty-two week low of $58.61 and a fifty-two week high of $78.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50 day moving average is $69.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.20.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Equities research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

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.