Cwm LLC Acquires 9,027 Shares of First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Cwm LLC boosted its holdings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,458 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,027 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.9% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in First American Financial by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 45,932 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,820,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in First American Financial by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in First American Financial by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,683 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 9,830 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on First American Financial from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “cautious” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, December 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, December 14th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.50.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of First American Financial stock opened at $62.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.79. First American Financial Corporation has a one year low of $53.09 and a one year high of $68.64.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 11.01% and a net margin of 6.80%.First American Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 8th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 8th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.31%.

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.