Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for First American Financial (NYSE:FAF)

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $72.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on FAF. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of FAF stock traded down $3.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $54.07. 1,187,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 698,622. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $57.70 and a 200 day moving average of $58.29. First American Financial has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $65.54. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59 and a beta of 1.28.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.22). First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 3.61%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that First American Financial will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First American Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bar Harbor Wealth Management acquired a new position in First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $2,673,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management increased its stake in First American Financial by 119.2% in the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 56,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 30,664 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,563,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the third quarter valued at about $3,988,000. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 17.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $178,994,000 after acquiring an additional 473,961 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.