Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) CEO Acquires $133,350.00 in Stock

Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) CEO Frederick Eppinger purchased 3,000 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were bought at an average price of $44.45 per share, for a total transaction of $133,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 173,675 shares in the company, valued at $7,719,853.75. This represents a 1.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:STC opened at $45.15 on Friday. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a 12 month low of $42.66 and a 12 month high of $78.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.04.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $900.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $903.67 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 9.39%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 4.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.5250. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Stewart Information Services during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 93.6% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,152 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on STC. Benchmark began coverage on Stewart Information Services in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lowered their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $80.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut Stewart Information Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $77.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.75.

About Stewart Information Services

Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) is a global provider of title insurance and real estate transaction services. Through its Stewart Title operations, the company helps protect property owners, lenders and other participants from losses arising from defects in a property’s title.

The company offers title searches and examinations, title insurance policies, escrow and closing services, settlement services, and related solutions for residential and commercial real estate transactions.