First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $75.75.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Stephens assumed coverage on First American Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on First American Financial from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FAF. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.9% in the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 4,850 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 0.9% in the third quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 21,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,381,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 33.0% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 859 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of First American Financial stock opened at $61.45 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.27. First American Financial has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $68.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.81.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.28. First American Financial had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First American Financial will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 8th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 47.31%.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and diversified real estate-related data and analytics. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, the company serves customers throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Its business is built on the underwriting capabilities of its title insurance operations combined with comprehensive closing and escrow services for homebuyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and real estate professionals.

The company’s title insurance segment issues policies that protect property owners and mortgage lenders against defects in titles, liens or encumbrances that can arise during real property transactions.