Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 12,276 Shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 19.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,630 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 12,276 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.18% of Stewart Information Services worth $3,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 906.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 656,143 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,733,000 after acquiring an additional 590,977 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 149.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 342,090 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,568,000 after purchasing an additional 204,688 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,247,762 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $93,258,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,330,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 7.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 985,673 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $73,669,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

STC stock traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.49. The company had a trading volume of 35,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,687. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 1-year low of $55.74 and a 1-year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $667.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. This represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

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.