Millennium Management LLC Has $71.10 Million Stock Holdings in Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation by 5.0%, owning approximately 996,558 shares worth $71.10 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Stewart Information Services reported $1.34 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a 19.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.525 on September 30th, marking an increase from the previous $0.50 dividend, with a current yield of 2.9%.

Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 996,558 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 47,384 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 3.58% of Stewart Information Services worth $71,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,982 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,393 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Stewart Information Services Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.94. The company had a trading volume of 159,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,024. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.48. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.39 and a fifty-two week high of $78.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45 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.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 3.29% and a return on equity of 7.71%. The firm had revenue of $721.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The company's revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stewart Information Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of 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. 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.com, Stewart Information Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 58,359 shares in the company, valued at $3,757,736.01. This represents a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 23,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.78% of the company's stock.

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.