Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $75.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Stewart Information Services traded as high as $75.02 and last traded at $74.50, with a volume of 10230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.95.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. BTIG Research upped their target price on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Transactions at Stewart Information Services

In other news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.27, for a total transaction of $876,196.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 55,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,873,370.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,645 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 906.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 656,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,733,000 after buying an additional 590,977 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 60,651 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after buying an additional 4,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 43,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after buying an additional 7,686 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.95 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.63.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $597.00 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

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.