Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 33,413 Shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Key Points

• Allspring Global Investments increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 2%, acquiring an additional 33,413 shares, bringing its total ownership to 1,715,422 shares valued at approximately $113.3 million.
• Stewart Information Services reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.34, exceeding analyst expectations, and experienced a year-over-year revenue growth of 19.9%.
• The company raised its dividend from $0.50 to $0.525 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with an annualized yield of 3.1%.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,715,422 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,413 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 6.14% of Stewart Information Services worth $113,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2,735.8% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 44,842.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in Stewart Information Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in Stewart Information Services during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

NYSE STC opened at $67.96 on Tuesday. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a one year low of $56.39 and a one year high of $78.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.91 and a 200 day moving average of $66.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $721.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Stewart Information Services's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This is an increase from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In related news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total value of $371,932.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of Stewart Information Services 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,359 shares of the company's stock, 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. Insiders own 2.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on STC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Stewart Information Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.50.

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.

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