Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,832,586 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 47,376 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 6.64% of Stewart Information Services worth $113,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $111,000. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in Stewart Information Services in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 55,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,873,370.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock opened at $74.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Stewart Information Services Co. has a one year low of $38.40 and a one year high of $76.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.03 and a beta of 1.20.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $597.00 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 5.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.39 EPS 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 paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.58%.

Stewart Information Services 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.