Eagle Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 47,424 Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 47,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,432,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services during the third quarter worth $61,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services during the second quarter worth $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter worth $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

NYSE STC opened at $76.33 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.47 and its 200-day moving average is $68.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 1.21. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 12-month low of $45.53 and a 12-month high of $76.88.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 yield of 2.62%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is 94.34%.

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.