Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,000 shares, a drop of 25.8% from the February 13th total of 22,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Investors Title from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new stake in Investors Title in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Investors Title by 455.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 239 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Investors Title by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Investors Title by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 540 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Investors Title by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. 41.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Investors Title Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ITIC opened at $245.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $462.92 million, a PE ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.97. Investors Title has a 12 month low of $146.41 and a 12 month high of $290.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $229.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.04.

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $4.41 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $70.63 million for the quarter. Investors Title had a return on equity of 11.84% and a net margin of 12.03%.

Investors Title Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 24th. Investors Title’s dividend payout ratio is 11.20%.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies.