Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Acquires 7,227 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,507 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,227 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of First American Financial worth $3,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,031,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $779,858,000 after purchasing an additional 245,974 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in First American Financial by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,889,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $550,453,000 after acquiring an additional 329,543 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in First American Financial by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,610,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $479,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567,428 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in First American Financial by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,193,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $206,981,000 after acquiring an additional 90,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First American Financial by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,802,635 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $155,989,000 after acquiring an additional 62,625 shares during the last quarter. 85.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on First American Financial from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Stephens lifted their target price on First American Financial from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, SpectralCast reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.25.

First American Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FAF opened at $60.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.55. First American Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $43.54 and a 12-month high of $64.66.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.39. First American Financial had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 3.64%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. As a group, analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This is a boost from First American Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 91.77%.

First American Financial Profile

First American Financial Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides financial services. It operates through Title Insurance and Services, and Specialty Insurance segments. The Title Insurance and Services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property, as well as offers related products and services.