Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Stock

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $75.00 to $77.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 26.77% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stephens lifted their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of FAF traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $60.74. 159,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 658,094. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.89 and a 200-day moving average of $63.72. First American Financial has a fifty-two week low of $51.85 and a fifty-two week high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.59 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In other news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565. Insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,625,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $663,426,000 after buying an additional 107,925 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,046,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $377,559,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,145 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its holdings in First American Financial by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,993,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $249,333,000 after buying an additional 359,777 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,963,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $247,481,000 after acquiring an additional 129,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in First American Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,573,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $160,707,000 after purchasing an additional 78,022 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.