Stewart Information Services Co. (STC) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 16th

Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 3rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 15.5% annually over the last three years. Stewart Information Services has a dividend payout ratio of 34.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stewart Information Services to earn $6.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.6%.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STC opened at $73.79 on Thursday. Stewart Information Services has a 1 year low of $38.40 and a 1 year high of $75.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.55 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $69.19 and its 200 day moving average is $64.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $602.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $597.00 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.16% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Stewart Information Services

In other Stewart Information Services news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 12,649 shares of Stewart Information Services stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.27, for a total value of $876,196.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 55,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,873,370.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research upped their price target on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

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.