Fidelity National Financial, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.50 (NYSE:FNF)

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.50 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th.

Fidelity National Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.5% annually over the last three years. Fidelity National Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 28.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Fidelity National Financial to earn $6.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.0%.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FNF opened at $64.83 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.67. The firm has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.24. Fidelity National Financial has a 52-week low of $46.85 and a 52-week high of $65.65.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.33 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 9.28%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fidelity National Financial

In related news, Director Halim Dhanidina sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.85, for a total transaction of $153,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,872.60. This trade represents a 14.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sandra Douglass Morgan sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $117,842.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,824,303.38. The trade was a 6.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $63.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stephens raised their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Fidelity National Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $77.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.40.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products.