Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 2,567 Shares of Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI)

Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Old Republic International Co. (NYSE:ORI) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Old Republic International were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 6,664 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Old Republic International during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,209,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 42,934 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Old Republic International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insider Transactions at Old Republic International

In other news, VP Thomas Dare sold 27,457 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $1,002,180.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 46,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,699,294. This represents a 37.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffrey Lange sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.56, for a total transaction of $40,142.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 34,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,267,864.24. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 43,039 shares of company stock valued at $1,580,733 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Old Republic International Stock Up 2.2 %

ORI opened at $37.41 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Old Republic International Co. has a 1-year low of $28.59 and a 1-year high of $39.27. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 0.83. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.24.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Old Republic International Co. will post 3.17 EPS for the current year.

Old Republic International Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost 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%. Old Republic International’s dividend payout ratio is 44.11%.

About Old Republic International

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.