Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,384 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.31% of Stewart Information Services worth $5,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $385,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 134,391 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the 4th quarter valued at $749,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 205.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 9,077 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 337.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 35,088 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of 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.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

Shares of STC opened at $60.66 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.46. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 12-month low of $58.61 and a 12-month high of $78.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33 and a beta of 1.01.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $608.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $595.50 million. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Stewart Information Services’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

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.