Short Interest in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Expands By 50.9%

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 965,400 shares, a growth of 50.9% from the February 28th total of 639,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 198,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,078,000 after acquiring an additional 10,801 shares in the last quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the fourth quarter worth $206,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 77,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,237,000 after purchasing an additional 11,528 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services during the fourth quarter worth about $931,000. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE STC traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.42. 26,455 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,276. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. Stewart Information Services has a 52 week low of $58.23 and a 52 week high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

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.