First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Raised to “Overweight” at Stephens

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $81.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $70.00. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.90% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.50.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FAF opened at $69.89 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.00. First American Financial has a 12 month low of $53.09 and a 12 month high of $71.47.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 8.34%.First American Financial’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First American Financial will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In other news, Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $3,042,461.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,067,803.20. This represents a 21.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First American Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,690,000 after purchasing an additional 500,649 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in First American Financial by 4,485,375.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,786,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $355,508,000 after buying an additional 5,786,134 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First American Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,391,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $269,799,000 after buying an additional 97,612 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,415,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $209,868,000 after acquiring an additional 109,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,793,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $110,200,000 after acquiring an additional 19,752 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.