Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) CEO Frederick H. Eppinger Purchases 3,000 Shares of Stock

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC – Get Rating) CEO Frederick H. Eppinger purchased 3,000 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.70 per share, for a total transaction of $113,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,416 shares in the company, valued at $4,351,183.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Stewart Information Services Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE STC traded down $1.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.38. 1,190,416 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. Stewart Information Services Co. has a twelve month low of $35.96 and a twelve month high of $69.57. The company has a market cap of $986.99 million, a PE ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.10.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.04). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 5.29%. The business had revenue of $655.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $622.10 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Stewart Information Services’s revenue was down 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Stewart Information Services from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Finally, TheStreet raised Stewart Information Services from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,057 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,644 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 66,382 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,302,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Stewart Information Services Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Stewart Information Services Corp. is a real estate services company, which engages in the provision of title insurance and settlement-related services. It operates through the Title Insurance and Related Services, and Ancillary Services and Corporate segments. The Title Insurance and Related Services segment consists of searching, examining, closing, and insuring the condition of the title to real property.