Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,750,000 shares, an increase of 16.5% from the June 15th total of 3,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Financial

In related news, CFO Anthony Park sold 85,000 shares of Fidelity National Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $4,319,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,033,670.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Halim Dhanidina sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.64, for a total transaction of $151,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,839.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Anthony Park sold 85,000 shares of Fidelity National Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $4,319,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,670.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fidelity National Financial in the second quarter valued at $26,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 109.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FNF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.40.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE FNF traded up $0.34 on Wednesday, hitting $54.85. 130,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,339,955. Fidelity National Financial has a fifty-two week low of $37.10 and a fifty-two week high of $55.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 1.35.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $3.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 6.55%. Fidelity National Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Fidelity National Financial Company Profile

Fidelity National Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products.