Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 3,631 Shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Key Points

• Confluence Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation by 7.0%, now holding 48,263 shares after selling 3,631 shares in the last quarter.
• The company recently reported a 19.9% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, totaling $721.50 million, and earnings per share of $1.34, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Stewart Information Services declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.50 to $0.525 per share, with a yield of 2.8%, reflecting strong financial performance.

Confluence Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,263 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,631 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Stewart Information Services worth $3,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 138,212 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $9,861,000 after buying an additional 3,821 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,682,009 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $120,600,000 after purchasing an additional 30,160 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 1st quarter valued at $283,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Stewart Information Services by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 23,233 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 8,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 316,444 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $21,357,000 after purchasing an additional 12,455 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total value of $371,932.08. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

NYSE STC opened at $74.61 on Friday. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.39 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $67.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.55.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STC has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services 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.

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