Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 7,109 Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,109 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in STC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 310.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 807.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,546 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

STC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Stewart Information Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, February 6th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

STC traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.98. 18,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 167,473. The company's 50-day moving average is $67.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.63. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.38 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 12-month low of $58.61 and a 12-month high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.09). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. The company had revenue of $608.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $595.50 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. Stewart Information Services's payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Stewart Information Services 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.