Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $76.88 and last traded at $76.77, with a volume of 100868 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $75.09.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 35.61 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.17.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $667.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Stewart Information Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,842,259.60. This represents a 16.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $47,151,000 after purchasing an additional 8,597 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 337.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after buying an additional 35,088 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,247,762 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,258,000 after buying an additional 179,364 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $758,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $341,000. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.