Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 4,843 Shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC)

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services Co. (NYSE:STC) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,765 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,843 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Stewart Information Services were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of STC. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 310.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 452 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stewart Information Services by 807.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. 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 worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Stewart Information Services by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Stewart Information Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Stewart Information Services Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Stewart Information Services stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $67.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.78. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.52 and a beta of 1.01. Stewart Information Services Co. has a 12-month low of $58.61 and a 12-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.

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

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.