BTIG Research Boosts Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Price Target to $70.00

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) had its target price lifted by BTIG Research from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $69.33.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of STC opened at $61.64 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.83 and its 200-day moving average is $56.30. Stewart Information Services has a one year low of $38.40 and a one year high of $65.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 1.83%. The business had revenue of $554.32 million during the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total value of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 76,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,851,076.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the first quarter worth about $283,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 76.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $865,000 after buying an additional 5,777 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the fourth quarter worth approximately $422,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,906,475 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $112,005,000 after purchasing an additional 26,897 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Stewart Information Services

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.