Axa S.A. Makes New $2.64 Million Investment in Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Axa S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 39,157 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Stewart Information Services by 310.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 807.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Stewart Information Services by 58.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Stewart Information Services by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,434 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. 96.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on STC shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STC opened at $64.46 on Friday. Stewart Information Services Co. has a twelve month low of $58.61 and a twelve month high of $78.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 24.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $67.90 and its 200 day moving average is $68.81.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.09). Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 2.94%. The business had revenue of $608.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services Co. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.92%.

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.