Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 579 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STC. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services during the third quarter valued at about $3,770,000. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the third quarter worth about $5,330,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the third quarter valued at about $207,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the third quarter valued at about $205,000. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. This trade represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

STC opened at $68.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.21. Stewart Information Services Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.23 and a fifty-two week high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is 76.92%.

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.