Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Grows Stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 23.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,914 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $1,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 99.1% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 671 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in First American Financial by 56.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 56.5% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial in the first quarter worth about $54,000. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First American Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FAF opened at $66.80 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.62. First American Financial Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.55 and a fifty-two week high of $67.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96 and a beta of 1.29.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.14. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.28% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. First American Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a positive change from First American Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First American Financial from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on First American Financial from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.75.

About First American Financial

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.