Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) Short Interest Down 30.2% in March

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 673,800 shares, a decline of 30.2% from the March 15th total of 965,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 195,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 337.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 45,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 35,088 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 630,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,151,000 after buying an additional 8,597 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 205.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 9,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of STC stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.27. 118,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 170,275. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11 and a beta of 1.05. Stewart Information Services has a 52-week low of $58.61 and a 52-week high of $78.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.22.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

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.