Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 151,231 Shares of First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,269,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 151,231 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.08% of First American Financial worth $659,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 210,739 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,538,000 after buying an additional 20,188 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in First American Financial by 129.0% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,976,000 after acquiring an additional 36,485 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP boosted its stake in First American Financial by 29.4% in the second quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 10,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,598,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $102,657,000 after acquiring an additional 380,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on FAF shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Stephens started coverage on First American Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First American Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.67.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FAF opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. First American Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $53.09 and a 52-week high of $68.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.27.

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

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First American Financial news, Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,067,803.20. The trade was a 21.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.