Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 8.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,850 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.19% of First American Financial worth $11,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jump Financial LLC increased its holdings in First American Financial by 120.4% during the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,269 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. CacheTech Inc. lifted its position in First American Financial by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 10,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $673,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 6,964 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 98,006 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,118,000 after acquiring an additional 37,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in First American Financial by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. The trade was a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

First American Financial Stock Performance

FAF opened at $58.96 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.44 and its 200 day moving average is $63.99. First American Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.60 and a fifty-two week high of $70.92. The stock has a market cap of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.17 and a beta of 1.23.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. On average, equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

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.