Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Sets New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $76.88 and last traded at $76.77, with a volume of 100868 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.09.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is presently 94.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.01.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 65,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,842,259.60. This represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,597 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 337.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 35,088 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 16.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,247,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $93,258,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the third quarter valued at about $758,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the third quarter valued at about $341,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company 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.