First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Short Interest Update

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, an increase of 24.0% from the November 30th total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on First American Financial from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of First American Financial from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First American Financial from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:FAF opened at $62.10 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.39. First American Financial has a 52 week low of $51.60 and a 52 week high of $70.92. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.78 and a beta of 1.30.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.19. First American Financial had a return on equity of 7.95% and a net margin of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that First American Financial will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 242.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First American Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,489 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in First American Financial by 57.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,669 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in First American Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in First American Financial by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,306,000 after acquiring an additional 12,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 15.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.