Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Sunday.

STC has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Stewart Information Services

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock opened at $69.78 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $72.06 and a 200 day moving average of $66.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.96. Stewart Information Services has a 1 year low of $56.39 and a 1 year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $721.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.90 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 3.29% and a return on equity of 7.71%. Stewart Information Services’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is currently 67.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,757,736.01. This trade represents a 3.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total transaction of $371,932.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 96.7% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2,735.8% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 216.1% during the 2nd quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,658 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,817 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company Profile

(Get 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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