Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,761 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,622 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.37% of Stewart Information Services worth $7,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 13,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $74.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.25. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52 week low of $52.18 and a 52 week high of $76.88.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. Stewart Information Services had a net margin of 2.47% and a return on equity of 5.77%. The company had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $638.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Stewart Information Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,842,259.60. This trade represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th.

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.