Banque Pictet & Cie SA Acquires Shares of 8,623 Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA purchased a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,623 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 29,717 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,850 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Stewart Information Services from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Stewart Information Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

NYSE STC traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $59.98. 208,640 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 172,329. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07 and a beta of 0.99. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a one year low of $58.61 and a one year high of $78.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.29 and a 200-day moving average of $65.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $595.50 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.92% and a net margin of 2.88%. The firm's revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Stewart Information Services's payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Allen Bradley, Jr. acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.63 per share, for a total transaction of $59,630.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,090.09. This represents a 5.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.78% of the company's stock.

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.