Meeder Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Free Report) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,816 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 17,589 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in STC. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,522,904 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $65,074,000 after buying an additional 418,922 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 88.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 853,332 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $34,432,000 after buying an additional 401,039 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 152.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 461,564 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,722,000 after buying an additional 278,933 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 69.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,535 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $23,608,000 after buying an additional 194,349 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 10.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,730,293 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $69,816,000 after buying an additional 169,056 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stewart Information Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE STC traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $64.32. 92,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 228,543. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.21. Stewart Information Services Co. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $65.35. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 57.95 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.11.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.14. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 1.35%. The business had revenue of $582.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $566.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Stewart Information Services's revenue was down 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Stewart Information Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total transaction of $757,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 76,867 shares in the company, valued at $4,851,076.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on STC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Stewart Information Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.33.

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.