Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.00.

FNF has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Financial

In other news, EVP Peter Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of Fidelity National Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,581.40. This trade represents a 92.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FNF. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fidelity National Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $181,017,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $112,882,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,210,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,287,000 after acquiring an additional 973,891 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 70.3% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 896,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,524,000 after acquiring an additional 369,908 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Fidelity National Financial by 74.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 688,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,464,000 after purchasing an additional 293,761 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

NYSE FNF opened at $42.46 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Fidelity National Financial has a twelve month low of $42.32 and a twelve month high of $60.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.17.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.08. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 73.50%.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc (NYSE:FNF) is a provider of title insurance, escrow and settlement services, and other title-related products in the United States. Through its Fidelity National Title Group businesses, the company helps protect property buyers, lenders and other parties against losses arising from defects in real estate titles and supports the closing of residential and commercial property transactions.

FNF’s title operations include well-known brands such as Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title.