Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 151,231 Shares of First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,269,338 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 151,231 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of First American Financial worth $659,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $77,143,000. Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 875.1% during the 2nd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 1,323,513 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $81,250,000 after buying an additional 1,187,787 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in First American Financial by 20.0% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,632,945 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $345,971,000 after buying an additional 940,687 shares in the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC bought a new position in First American Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,600,000. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 380,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $3,042,461.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 251,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. This trade represents a 21.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Stephens started coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on First American Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. First American Financial Corporation has a one year low of $53.09 and a one year high of $68.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.27.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 8.34%.The business’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 36.61%.

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.