Stewart Information Services Corporation $STC Shares Sold by Rhumbline Advisers

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in Stewart Information Services Corporation by 4% to hold 81,744 shares, valued at approximately $5.83 million.
• The company recently reported earnings of $1.34 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $721.5 million for the quarter, marking a 19.9% increase year-over-year.
• Stewart Information Services announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.525 per share, representing a 2.8% dividend yield based on the new annualized amount.

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,744 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 3,379 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.29% of Stewart Information Services worth $5,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on STC shares. 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 report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 3.8%

STC stock traded up $2.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $77.21. The stock had a trading volume of 121,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,635. The company's 50-day moving average price is $68.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.65. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 0.94. Stewart Information Services Corporation has a 12-month low of $56.39 and a 12-month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $721.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stewart Information Services news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of Stewart Information Services 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,757,736.01. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 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.