Waverly Advisors LLC Takes $7.72 Million Position in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 128,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,717,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FAF. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its stake in First American Financial by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 135,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,334,000 after purchasing an additional 46,639 shares during the period. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,608,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,713,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,693,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,046,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First American Financial news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 5,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $399,632.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 29,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,033,850.05. This trade represents a 16.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Stock Performance

First American Financial stock opened at $76.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $68.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.09. First American Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $56.20 and a 52 week high of $76.80.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.28. First American Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 9.33%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Corporation will post 6.91 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered First American Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on First American Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First American Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.60.

About First American Financial

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.