Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 130,453 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,548 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $9,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Stewart Information Services by 57.7% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services in the first quarter worth about $111,000. Institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $79.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on Stewart Information Services from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $72.82 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.36 and its 200 day moving average is $68.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35 and a beta of 1.21. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52-week low of $45.12 and a 52-week high of $76.83.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $667.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 2.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. This is a positive change from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is presently 94.34%.

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.