Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9.07 Million Stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.48% of Stewart Information Services worth $9,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,488,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,979,000 after purchasing an additional 8,853 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,651,849 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $108,741,000 after purchasing an additional 10,132 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 16.8% during the third 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 period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 7.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 985,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $73,669,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $47,151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,597 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total value of $956,073.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,842,259.60. This trade represents a 16.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $71.26 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.23. Stewart Information Services Co. has a one year low of $58.23 and a one year high of $78.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 76.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on STC shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

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.