Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) Shares Sold by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its stake in Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI - Free Report) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 9,414 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN's holdings in Old Republic International were worth $4,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at $105,581,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Old Republic International during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,054,000. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Old Republic International in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,209,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Old Republic International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,409,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Old Republic International by 39.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 454,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,209,000 after buying an additional 128,896 shares during the period. 70.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Old Republic International

In other Old Republic International news, VP Thomas Dare sold 27,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $1,002,180.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 46,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,699,294. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Craig R. Smiddy sold 5,296 shares of Old Republic International stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.60, for a total value of $204,425.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 138,222 shares in the company, valued at $5,335,369.20. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,039 shares of company stock valued at $1,580,733. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ORI. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Old Republic International from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Old Republic International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday.

Old Republic International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORI traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,256,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,236,229. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.62. Old Republic International Co. has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $39.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.52 and a 200-day moving average of $36.75. The company has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 0.68.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.03 billion. Old Republic International had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 10.36%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Old Republic International Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Old Republic International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Old Republic International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Old Republic International's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.11%.

Old Republic International Company Profile

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business.