Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) Announces Earnings Results

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 2.47%.

Stewart Information Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STC traded up $1.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $65.80. 187,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,180. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.04 and a beta of 1.23. Stewart Information Services has a 52-week low of $56.16 and a 52-week high of $78.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.46 and a 200 day moving average of $70.47.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is 94.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STC has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $84.00 to $74.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In other news, Director Matthew Morris sold 12,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $956,073.88. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 65,330 shares in the company, valued at $4,842,259.60. This represents a 16.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.