State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 16.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,247,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.51% of Stewart Information Services worth $93,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in STC. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services in the third quarter worth $61,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services during the second quarter worth $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $205,000. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
STC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Stewart Information Services from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.
Read Our Latest Report on STC
Stewart Information Services Stock Down 2.0 %
Shares of Stewart Information Services stock traded down $1.48 on Tuesday, hitting $72.94. The company had a trading volume of 110,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 181,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.96 and a 200-day moving average of $69.84. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 1 year low of $55.47 and a 1 year high of $78.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41 and a beta of 1.21.
Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $667.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. Stewart Information Services's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.
Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Stewart Information Services's payout ratio is currently 94.34%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services
In related news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. The trade was a 16.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Stewart Information Services
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Free Report)
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.
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