Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FNF. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $55.40.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Up 0.2 %

FNF stock opened at $53.39 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.35. Fidelity National Financial has a 12 month low of $37.10 and a 12 month high of $55.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 66,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 1.9% in the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,575 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 10.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,155 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 6.4% in the first quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 4,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

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.