Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC Stock Position Lessened by Bridgeway Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Bridgeway Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation by 56.7%, now holding 56,064 shares worth $4 million.
• The company reported a quarterly revenue of $721.50 million, exceeding analysts' estimates, and earnings per share of $1.34, which was above the consensus of $1.30.
• Stewart Information Services recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.50 to $0.525 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.9%.

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 56.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,064 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 73,560 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Stewart Information Services worth $4,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 128,363 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,158,000 after purchasing an additional 3,022 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 36.7% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 14.7% during the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 41,235 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 24.8% in the first quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 66,193 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 13,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total value of $143,203.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 58,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,757,736.01. This trade represents a 3.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total transaction of $371,932.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. This represents a 19.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

STC stock traded up $2.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $75.18. The company had a trading volume of 176,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,849. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.17 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.56. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.39 and a fifty-two week high of $78.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $721.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.31%.

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.