Stewart Information Services Earnings Preview

Investors braced for a bumpy ride ahead of Stewart Information Services' (NYSE: STC  ) earnings announcement as the company has wavered between beating and falling short of analyst predictions during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, February 16. Stewart Information Services, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance and related information services required for settlement by the real estate and mortgage industries throughout the United States and in international markets.

What analysts say:

• Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Stewart Information Services with analysts unanimously rating it hold. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained unchanged in their opinion of the stock.
• Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $378.4 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a decline of 15.8% from the year-ago quarter.
• Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.22 per share. Estimates range from $0.12 to $0.29.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are in strong support of the stock, with 91.9% giving it an "outperform" rating. The greater community concurs with the All-Stars, as 88.9% give it a rating of "outperform." Fools feel positively about Stewart Information Services and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 101 posts in the past 30 days. The bullish CAPS rating of five out of five stars for Stewart Information Services outpaces Fool enthusiasm for the company.

Management:
Revenue has fallen in the past two quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.�

Quarter	Q3	Q2	Q1	Q4
Net Margin	1.1%	1.5%	-2.8%	2.2%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Stewart Information Services movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.