Short Interest in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Decreases By 58.5%

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 531,300 shares, a decline of 58.5% from the March 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 226,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.3 %

STC traded up $0.79 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.41. 306,061 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 229,875. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $61.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.43. Stewart Information Services has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $65.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.42 and a beta of 1.16.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.14. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 1.35% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The company had revenue of $582.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $566.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Stewart Information Services's quarterly revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 171.17%.

Insider Transactions at Stewart Information Services

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total value of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 76,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,851,076.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STC. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 2.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,991,364 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $161,052,000 after acquiring an additional 91,319 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,055,044 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 21,654 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,922,748 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $112,963,000 after purchasing an additional 59,639 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,522,904 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $65,074,000 after purchasing an additional 418,922 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 1,255,619 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $50,664,000 after buying an additional 3,631 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STC. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Stewart Information Services from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.33.

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.

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