Heartland Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 74.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,963 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 105,095 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $2,310,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FAF. 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 boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,976,000 after acquiring an additional 36,485 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in shares of First American Financial by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 10,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in First American Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in First American Financial by 31.3% during the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,598,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $102,657,000 after purchasing an additional 380,744 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens began coverage on First American Financial in a report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First American Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.67.

First American Financial Stock Up 1.1%

First American Financial stock opened at $67.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.70. First American Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.09 and a 52 week high of $68.75.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 8.34%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 9th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

First American Financial 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.