First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.22 EPS

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 3.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share.

First American Financial Stock Down 10.4 %

Shares of NYSE FAF traded down $6.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.78. The company had a trading volume of 507,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 690,409. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.28. First American Financial has a twelve month low of $49.55 and a twelve month high of $65.54.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on FAF shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally.