Short Interest in Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) Drops By 30.4%

Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 625,300 shares, a decline of 30.4% from the September 15th total of 898,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 182,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 182,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stewart Information Services news, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.32, for a total value of $371,932.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,872 shares in the company, valued at $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 4,012 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 25,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 6,211 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 138.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $74.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $72.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.77. Stewart Information Services has a one year low of $56.39 and a one year high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $791.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $737.30 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 3.65%.Stewart Information Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.52%.

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.