Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 204,688 Shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 149.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 342,090 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 204,688 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.24% of Stewart Information Services worth $25,568,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 906.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 656,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $40,733,000 after buying an additional 590,977 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,330,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 985,673 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $73,669,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new stake in Stewart Information Services in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,770,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,922,385 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $125,070,000 after buying an additional 15,910 shares in the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stewart Information Services Trading Up 2.3 %

Stewart Information Services stock opened at $76.33 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.59. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 1.21. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 52-week low of $45.53 and a 52-week high of $76.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $667.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $638.40 million. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 5.77% and a net margin of 2.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Analysts predict that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Stewart Information Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Stewart Information Services’s payout ratio is presently 94.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on 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.

Stewart Information Services 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.