Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in First American Financial were worth $554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 9,827 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 3,431 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,372 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $368,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $19,377,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in First American Financial by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 120,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,542,000 after buying an additional 7,297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.00.

First American Financial Trading Up 0.3%

First American Financial stock opened at $55.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49 and a beta of 1.29. First American Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $51.85 and a 1-year high of $70.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.03.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 143.05%.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.