Vestcor Inc Buys New Shares in Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI)

Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,906 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Old Republic International by 5.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 120,303 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,262,000 after buying an additional 6,664 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Old Republic International by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,714 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Old Republic International by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 71,716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after buying an additional 19,400 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,209,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Old Republic International by 5.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 851,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after buying an additional 42,934 shares during the last quarter. 70.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Old Republic International Stock Performance

Old Republic International stock opened at $37.41 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.33 and a 200-day moving average of $36.24. The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.83. Old Republic International Co. has a 1-year low of $28.59 and a 1-year high of $39.27.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.19. Old Republic International had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Old Republic International Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Old Republic International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from Old Republic International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Old Republic International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Old Republic International news, SVP Carolyn Monroe sold 9,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.35, for a total value of $333,983.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,556 shares in the company, valued at $1,219,760.60. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jeffrey Lange sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $40,142.88. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,864.24. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 43,039 shares of company stock worth $1,580,733 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut Old Republic International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Old Republic International Profile

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business.