39,157 Shares in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Purchased by Axa S.A.

AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 39,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000. AXA S.A. owned approximately 0.14% of Stewart Information Services as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 310.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 807.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,546 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

STC stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.25. The company had a trading volume of 132,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 177,187. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.10 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.67 and a 200 day moving average of $68.74. Stewart Information Services Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.61 and a fifty-two week 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.

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

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 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.