Stewart Information Services Co. (STC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 on December 30th

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 2nd,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th.

Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend by an average of 15.5% per year over the last three years. Stewart Information Services has a payout ratio of 35.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stewart Information Services to earn $6.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.8%.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STC opened at $74.60 on Friday. Stewart Information Services has a 52 week low of $55.30 and a 52 week high of $78.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 1.21.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 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 business had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 65,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,842,259.60. The trade was a 16.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company 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.