Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Position Lessened by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 265 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the 4th quarter valued at $805,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 10,766 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 136,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,045,000 after purchasing an additional 17,451 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 705,777 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $41,464,000 after purchasing an additional 31,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,930 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STC has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.33.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In related news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.11, for a total transaction of $757,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 hyperlink. 2.99% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of STC opened at $63.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 42.00 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 1.95. Stewart Information Services Co. has a twelve month low of $38.40 and a twelve month high of $65.35.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 1.83% and a return on equity of 4.69%. The firm had revenue of $554.32 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued 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 2.98%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 125.00%.

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.