Heritage Family Offices LLP Buys New Holdings in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,279 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,922,748 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,963,000 after acquiring an additional 59,639 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the first quarter worth about $4,917,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the first quarter worth about $576,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,922,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $125,070,000 after purchasing an additional 15,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the fourth quarter worth about $422,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:STC opened at $73.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Stewart Information Services Co. has a one year low of $38.40 and a one year high of $74.46. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.63 and a beta of 1.21.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.13). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $602.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $597.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on STC. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In related news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.27, for a total value of $876,196.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,873,370.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.