Wall Street Zen Upgrades Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) to “Buy”

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Stewart Information Services from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.50.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE STC opened at $70.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82 and a beta of 0.96. Stewart Information Services has a 12-month low of $56.39 and a 12-month high of $78.44.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.04. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 7.71% and a net margin of 3.29%.The firm had revenue of $721.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Stewart Information Services

In related news, CFO David C. Hisey sold 2,224 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.39, for a total transaction of $143,203.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 58,359 shares in the company, valued at $3,757,736.01. The trade was a 3.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brad Rable sold 5,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 23,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,559,319.04. The trade was a 19.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.78% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 2.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,715,422 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $113,286,000 after purchasing an additional 33,413 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 5.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 996,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $71,104,000 after buying an additional 47,384 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 18.6% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 990,168 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $70,648,000 after buying an additional 155,210 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 657,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,813,000 after buying an additional 10,236 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 1.2% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 517,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,764,000 after acquiring an additional 5,921 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

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.