First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.60.

FAF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on First American Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First American Financial news, CAO Steven A. Adams sold 3,253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total value of $243,942.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $767,447.66. This represents a 24.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First American Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 7.6% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 26,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,849,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its position in First American Financial by 1.9% during the second quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,553,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,537,000 after buying an additional 28,534 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in First American Financial in the second quarter valued at $16,714,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in First American Financial by 9.6% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,696 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 12.0% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,294 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First American Financial Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE FAF opened at $74.95 on Thursday. First American Financial has a 12 month low of $56.20 and a 12 month high of $79.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.89. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 7.02 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is presently 30.47%.

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.