Short Interest in Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) Grows By 20.6%

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,500 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the February 28th total of 17,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Investors Title by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in Investors Title by 10.8% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 1,431 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Investors Title by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,169 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Investors Title by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,553 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $604,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Investors Title by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,127 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 41.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Investors Title from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Investors Title Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:ITIC traded down $2.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $238.60. 4,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,616. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $240.40. The company has a market cap of $450.00 million, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.97. Investors Title has a one year low of $146.41 and a one year high of $290.40.

Investors Title (NASDAQ:ITIC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The insurance provider reported $4.41 EPS for the quarter. Investors Title had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The company had revenue of $70.63 million for the quarter.

Investors Title Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 24th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Investors Title’s payout ratio is currently 11.20%.

About Investors Title

Investors Title Company engages in the issuance of residential and commercial title insurance for residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial properties. The company underwrites land title insurance for owners and mortgagees as a primary insurer; and assumes the reinsurance of title insurance risks from other title insurance companies.