Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stake in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 340,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,628 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $22,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 310.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 58.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Stewart Information Services by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in Stewart Information Services by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 3,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stewart Information Services during the third quarter worth about $341,000. 96.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

Stewart Information Services Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of STC opened at $67.12 on Monday. Stewart Information Services Co. has a one year low of $58.28 and a one year high of $78.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82 and a beta of 1.05.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

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.