US Bancorp DE Boosts Stake in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 656.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,666 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 28,345 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $2,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 12.0% during the third quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 46,408 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,981,000 after purchasing an additional 4,964 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in First American Financial by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Parker S. Kennedy purchased 44,841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,067,803.20. This represents a 21.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE FAF opened at $69.48 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $64.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.25. First American Financial Corporation 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, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.50. First American Financial had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 8.34%.The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Stephens upgraded shares of First American Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.50.

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.