Stewart Information (STC) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Rise Y/Y
Stewart Information Services Corporation STC first-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings of $1.92 per share increased more than three-fold year over year.
Shares gained 0.2% in the last trading session, reflecting the solid performance,
Results benefited from continued strong trends in residential real estate transaction activity as well as robust growth in international and newly-acquired ancillary services businesses. The quarterly performance reflects the company’s sustained focus on targeted growth and broader technology and services offerings.
Stewart Information Services Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Stewart Information Services Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Stewart Information Services Corporation Quote
Behind the Headlines
Operating revenues of $689 million increased 56.6% year over year on the back of higher revenues from direct operations, agency operations and ancillary services.
Net investment income, however, decreased 24.4% to $3.9 million.
Total expense of $614.9 million increased 42.7% year over year due to increase in amounts retained by agencies, employee costs, other operating expenses and title losses and related claims.
Opened orders totaled 0.2 million, up 28.7% year over year. Closed orders totaled 0.1 million, up 66.4% year over year
Segment Results
Title: Operating revenues increased 42% year over year to $625.4 million. The upside was driven by increases in direct title revenues and gross independent agency revenues.
Pretax margin of 12.2% expanded 880 bps year over year.
Ancillary Services and Corporate: Operating revenues increased more than ten fold year over year to $55.9 million, driven by acquisitions.
Pretax loss narrowed to $3.1 million from $5.6 million incurred in the year-ago quarter.
Financial Update
Stewart Information exited the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $412.7 million, down 4.6% from 2020 end. Notes and contracts payable were $125.6 million, up 23.4%.
Stockholders’ equity was $1 billion, up 3.5% from 2020 end.
Cash flow from operations was $47.4 million versus $11.4 million used in the year-ago quarter.
Zacks Rank
Stewart Information currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
Of the insurance industry players that have reported first-quarter results so far, The Travelers Companies TRV, W.R. Berkley Corporation WRB and RLI Corporation RLI beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings.
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