50,439 Shares in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Bought by Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 50,439 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,770,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of STC. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $840,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on 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. BTIG Research raised their price target on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of STC stock opened at $67.35 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.48. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52-week low of $44.05 and a 52-week high of $76.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77 and a beta of 1.21.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $667.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 2.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 94.34%.

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.