Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 34,304 Shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 33.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,526 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 34,304 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.24% of Stewart Information Services worth $4,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 acquiring an additional 3,022 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 41,235 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 5,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 66,193 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,723,000 after acquiring an additional 13,166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stewart Information Services news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the company'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 transaction, the insider owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. This represents a 19.26% 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, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 58,359 shares in the company, 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. 2.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:STC opened at $75.11 on Tuesday. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.39 and a 1 year high of $78.44. The company has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a PE ratio of 24.15 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock's 50-day moving average is $67.17 and its 200 day moving average is $66.43.

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, 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Stewart Information Services's revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.

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