Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Raises Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Price Target to $75.00

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $71.00 to $75.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

NYSE STC opened at $72.88 on Wednesday. Stewart Information Services has a 12 month low of $38.40 and a 12 month high of $75.51. The stock has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.13). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $597.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Stewart Information Services’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.00%.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In related news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.27, for a total value of $876,196.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,917 shares in the company, valued at $3,873,370.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stewart Information Services

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of STC. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the fourth quarter worth $247,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 11,270 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 951,699 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $55,912,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,922,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $112,963,000 after purchasing an additional 59,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,383 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.