Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 868 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $57,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of STC. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,682,009 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $120,600,000 after acquiring an additional 30,160 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services during the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 381.3% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 67,255 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,799,000 after buying an additional 53,282 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 138,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,861,000 after buying an additional 3,821 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services during the 1st quarter valued at $615,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total transaction of $371,932.08. Following the transaction, the insider owned 23,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. This represents a 19.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total value of $143,203.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,359 shares in the company, valued at $3,757,736.01. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

STC stock opened at $69.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.73. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.39 and a twelve month high of $78.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.44 and a beta of 0.96.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.04. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 3.29%.The business had revenue of $721.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 67.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on STC. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.50.

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.