First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $72.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FAF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, March 21st. TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on First American Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Performance

FAF traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $54.40. The stock had a trading volume of 396,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,087. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.27. First American Financial has a 52 week low of $49.55 and a 52 week high of $65.54.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First American Financial will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 101.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First American Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 82.3% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.