Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) Short Interest Update

Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE:STC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 711,919 shares, a decline of 37.3% from the December 15th total of 1,135,284 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 232,299 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 232,299 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stewart Information Services

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Stewart Information Services by 2,735.8% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stewart Information Services by 207.3% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 22,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 15,299 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 8.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 118,127 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,690,000 after purchasing an additional 9,622 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Stewart Information Services by 25.0% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 84,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,473,000 after purchasing an additional 16,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Stewart Information Services by 52.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,301,000 after buying an additional 17,483 shares during the period. 96.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on STC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Stewart Information Services from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Stewart Information Services in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stewart Information Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stewart Information Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Stewart Information Services Price Performance

Shares of STC stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.09. The stock had a trading volume of 713,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,615. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 1.02. Stewart Information Services has a one year low of $56.39 and a one year high of $78.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $72.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.37.

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.22. Stewart Information Services had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 3.65%.The business had revenue of $791.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $737.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Stewart Information Services will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Stewart Information Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Stewart Information Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.50%.

About Stewart Information Services

Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE: STC) is a publicly traded provider of title insurance and real estate transaction services. The company underwrites title insurance policies for residential and commercial properties, offering lenders and property owners protection against title defects and liens. Beyond title insurance, Stewart delivers a range of ancillary services, including closing and escrow administration, property valuation, and risk mitigation solutions designed to streamline the mortgage process and reduce operational complexity for clients.

In addition to core title and settlement services, Stewart offers technology-driven products aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency in real estate transactions.