First American Financial Corporation $FAF Stock Holdings Lessened by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council cut its stake in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $4,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of First American Financial by 121.3% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in First American Financial by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 293,058 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,233,000 after purchasing an additional 28,666 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 414,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,600 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 182.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 67,572 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 43,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FAF shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Stephens raised First American Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.50.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF stock opened at $69.89 on Wednesday. First American Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $53.09 and a 52-week high of $71.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.25.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued 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 3.1%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In related news, Director Parker S. Kennedy acquired 44,841 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 251,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. The trade was a 21.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

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.