First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on FAF. Stephens boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.50.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FAF opened at $60.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.72. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 48.78 and a beta of 1.23. First American Financial has a 52 week low of $51.85 and a 52 week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In other First American Financial news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,454,906.40. The trade was a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,560,299.25. The trade was a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 208.0% during the 1st quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 22,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 15,079 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,458,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in First American Financial by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

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.