Contrasting Stewart Information Services (STC) & Its Peers

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) is one of 311 public companies in the “Insurance” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Stewart Information Services to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, profitability and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Stewart Information Services and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stewart Information Services	$2.92 billion	$115.54 million	11.18
Stewart Information Services Competitors	$15.48 billion	$1.70 billion	34.44

Stewart Information Services’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. Stewart Information Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Stewart Information Services and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stewart Information Services	3.58%	9.39%	4.77%
Stewart Information Services Competitors	9.24%	-9.74%	4.23%

Dividends

Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Stewart Information Services pays out 55.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Insurance” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.9% and pay out 30.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Stewart Information Services and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stewart Information Services	1	2	4	0	2.43
Stewart Information Services Competitors	3321	15615	16445	736	2.40

Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus price target of $75.75, suggesting a potential upside of 69.84%. As a group, “Insurance” companies have a potential upside of 6.29%. Given Stewart Information Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Stewart Information Services is more favorable than its competitors.

Volatility & Risk

Stewart Information Services has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stewart Information Services’ competitors have a beta of -1.51, suggesting that their average share price is 251% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.9% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.6% of shares of all “Insurance” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Stewart Information Services beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It also provides appraisal management, online notarization and closing, credit and real estate information, and search and valuation services. The company serves homebuyers and sellers, residential and commercial real estate professionals, mortgage lenders and servicers, title agencies and real estate attorneys, and home builders through direct operations, network of independent agencies, and other businesses. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.