First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.22 EPS

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.22), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FAF traded down $6.00 on Thursday, hitting $51.78. The stock had a trading volume of 507,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,409. The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.29. First American Financial has a twelve month low of $49.55 and a twelve month high of $65.54.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

First American Financial Company Profile

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally.