Brandes Investment Partners LP Purchases 2,567 Shares of Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI)

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Old Republic International were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at about $67,054,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Old Republic International by 162.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 610,150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $21,612,000 after buying an additional 377,605 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Old Republic International during the third quarter valued at about $7,965,000. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,209,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,409,000. 70.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Thomas Dare sold 27,457 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $1,002,180.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 46,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,699,294. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeffrey Lange sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $40,142.88. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,267,864.24. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,039 shares of company stock worth $1,580,733. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Old Republic International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORI opened at $37.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Old Republic International Co. has a 1 year low of $28.59 and a 1 year high of $39.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.33 and its 200 day moving average is $36.24.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.19. Old Republic International had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 20.32%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Old Republic International Co. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Old Republic International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Old Republic International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Old Republic International’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Old Republic International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Old Republic International Company Profile

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business.