StockNews.com Lowers Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research increased their target price on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $79.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

Shares of STC stock opened at $62.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.43. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.90 and a beta of 1.21. Stewart Information Services has a 12-month low of $38.40 and a 12-month high of $66.66.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $554.32 million during the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 1.83% and a return on equity of 4.69%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in STC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services in the fourth quarter valued at $805,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter valued at $4,917,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 10,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services during the 4th quarter worth $422,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

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.