First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Position Cut by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 561,640 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 145,549 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.54% of First American Financial worth $36,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Beacon Financial Group bought a new position in First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. Ogborne Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $3,222,000. Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new position in First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $12,695,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in First American Financial by 91.5% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 455,127 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,328,000 after purchasing an additional 217,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in First American Financial by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 196,081 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,635,000 after purchasing an additional 34,444 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

FAF opened at $53.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $55.30 and a 200-day moving average of $58.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.65 and a beta of 1.28. First American Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $49.55 and a 12-month high of $65.54.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 8.17%. First American Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 3.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 101.44%.

First American Financial Company Profile

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Home Warranty segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services internationally.