Capital Research Global Investors Boosts Stock Position in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 194.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,306,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,183,960 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned about 3.24% of First American Financial worth $212,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 2,887.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 478 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the third quarter valued at $41,000. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In other news, Director Parker S. Kennedy acquired 44,841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,067,803.20. This represents a 21.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on FAF shares. Barclays upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, December 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stephens upgraded shares of First American Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.50.

First American Financial Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE FAF opened at $65.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.09. First American Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.09 and a 52 week high of $71.47.

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

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.