Jump Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC has invested approximately $581,000 in Stewart Information Services Corporation by acquiring 8,142 shares of its stock, marking a significant addition to their portfolio.
• Stewart Information Services reported a quarterly EPS of $1.34, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.30, with revenue growth of 19.9% year-over-year.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Wellington Management Group LLP, have significantly increased their stakes in Stewart Information Services, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,142 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $120,600,000 after buying an additional 30,160 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 155,210 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.8% in the first quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 449,672 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,084,000 after buying an additional 24,840 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 332,891 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $23,752,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 316,444 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $21,357,000 after buying an additional 12,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE STC traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.32. The company had a trading volume of 58,617 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,538. The company's fifty day moving average is $66.81 and its 200-day moving average is $66.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.94. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a one year low of $56.39 and a one year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $721.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Corporation will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Stewart Information Services

In related news, 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,757,736.01. This trade represents a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% 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.