Fidelity National Financial’s (FNF) “Overweight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. National Bank Financial set a $54.00 price objective on Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research lowered Fidelity National Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fidelity National Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FNF opened at $47.51 on Monday. Fidelity National Financial has a 12-month low of $42.78 and a 12-month high of $61.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.95.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.08. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Fidelity National Financial’s payout ratio is 73.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Peter T. Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,581.40. This represents a 92.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FNF. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 629,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,975,000 after acquiring an additional 47,267 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 141.9% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 8,494 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 2.0% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 820,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,979,000 after purchasing an additional 16,440 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Fidelity National Financial in the second quarter worth $339,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 2.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 81.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.

FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.