First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of First American Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First American Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of First American Financial from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First American Financial news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 5,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $399,632.49. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,850.05. The trade was a 16.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 6,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $468,011.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,854.16. The trade was a 21.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First American Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its holdings in First American Financial by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 135,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,334,000 after acquiring an additional 46,639 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First American Financial by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,547,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $99,430,000 after acquiring an additional 224,277 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in First American Financial by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,293,573 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $275,816,000 after acquiring an additional 168,706 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in First American Financial by 656.0% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,666 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,098,000 after acquiring an additional 28,345 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,046,000. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE FAF opened at $66.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.66. First American Financial has a twelve month low of $53.09 and a twelve month high of $71.47.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 12.58%. First American Financial’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First American Financial will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 33.79%.

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.