Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 26.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 801,374 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 289,032 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $47,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 89,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 5.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 10,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 6.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,266 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,147 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total transaction of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 76,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,851,076.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.33.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

STC opened at $63.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52 and a beta of 1.17. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52-week low of $38.40 and a 52-week high of $65.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.69.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $554.32 million for the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 1.83% and a return on equity of 4.69%. Equities analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

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.