First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First American Financial (NYSE:FAF – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on FAF. TheStreet raised shares of First American Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Stephens raised shares of First American Financial from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of First American Financial from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $70.00.

First American Financial Stock Performance

First American Financial stock opened at $51.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.45. First American Financial has a fifty-two week low of $43.54 and a fifty-two week high of $69.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 1.26.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 13.40% and a net margin of 3.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 8th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 7th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First American Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAF. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 4.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 62,727 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,066,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 2.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 19.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 28,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,868,000 after buying an additional 4,736 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 7.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,629,986 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $624,215,000 after buying an additional 303,214 shares during the last quarter. 84.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First American Financial

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First American Financial Corp. engages in the provision of title insurance and settlement services to the real estate and mortgage industries. It also provides other financial services and risk solutions. It operates through the following segments: Title Insurance and Services, Specialty Insurance, and Corporate.