Public Sector Pension Investment Board Reduces Position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $4,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 75.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $789,000 after buying an additional 4,544 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,488,342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $185,979,000 after acquiring an additional 8,853 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 7.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,612 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter worth $3,432,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Stewart Information Services by 149.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 342,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,568,000 after acquiring an additional 204,688 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of STC stock opened at $76.37 on Tuesday. Stewart Information Services Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.40 and a fifty-two week high of $76.88. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 1.21.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The firm had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.