DAVENPORT & Co LLC Buys 5,921 Shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation by 1.2%, owning 517,454 shares worth approximately $33.76 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Stewart Information Services reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $1.34, surpassing estimates, and revenue up by 19.9% year-over-year, totaling $721.5 million.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.525 per share, with a current annualized dividend yield of 2.9%.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 517,454 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 5,921 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned about 1.85% of Stewart Information Services worth $33,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.8% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,682,009 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $120,600,000 after acquiring an additional 30,160 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Stewart Information Services by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 996,558 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $71,104,000 after purchasing an additional 47,384 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 18.6% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 990,168 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $70,648,000 after purchasing an additional 155,210 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.8% during the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 449,672 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $32,084,000 after buying an additional 24,840 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.4% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 332,891 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $23,752,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE STC opened at $72.50 on Monday. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a twelve month low of $56.39 and a twelve month high of $78.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.91. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $721.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.90 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 3.29%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total transaction of $143,203.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,757,736.01. This trade represents a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total transaction of $371,932.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,559,319.04. This trade represents a 19.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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