First American Financial Corporation $FAF Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its holdings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,400 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.06% of First American Financial worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2,887.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 478 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of First American Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other First American Financial news, Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. This trade represents a 21.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on First American Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of First American Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.50.

First American Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of FAF opened at $69.89 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.25. First American Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $53.09 and a 1-year high of $71.47.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.50. First American Financial had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 11.92%. The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and diversified real estate-related data and analytics. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, the company serves customers throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Its business is built on the underwriting capabilities of its title insurance operations combined with comprehensive closing and escrow services for homebuyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and real estate professionals.

The company’s title insurance segment issues policies that protect property owners and mortgage lenders against defects in titles, liens or encumbrances that can arise during real property transactions.