Stewart Information Services Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:STC)

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, June 2nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th.

Stewart Information Services has raised its dividend by an average of 12.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. Stewart Information Services has a dividend payout ratio of 31.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Stewart Information Services Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE STC traded down $0.45 on Wednesday, reaching $60.12. The stock had a trading volume of 128,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 171,068. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Stewart Information Services has a 1 year low of $58.61 and a 1 year high of $78.44. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on STC. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Stewart Information Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director C Allen Bradley, Jr. purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.63 per share, for a total transaction of $59,630.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,207,090.09. The trade was a 5.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 44,842.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,146 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,105 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 607.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 50,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,478 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 85,522 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,102,000 after purchasing an additional 7,923 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.