Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 176,915 Shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. $FNF

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) by 261.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,586 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,915 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.09% of Fidelity National Financial worth $11,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 201,883 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,363,000 after purchasing an additional 38,068 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 29.1% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 337,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,648,000 after purchasing an additional 76,031 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the first quarter worth $382,000. JCP Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 10.2% in the first quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 376,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,463,000 after buying an additional 35,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 27.8% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 11,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 2,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FNF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $51.00 target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fidelity National Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Peter T. Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at $260,581.40. The trade was a 92.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:FNF opened at $52.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $42.78 and a 52-week high of $61.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.65 and a 200 day moving average of $49.97.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.16). Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.91%.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.

FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.