Foster & Motley Inc. Makes New Investment in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,891 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,127,746 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $572,116,000 after acquiring an additional 81,888 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $178,994,000 after acquiring an additional 473,961 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,671,456 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $150,911,000 after acquiring an additional 72,860 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $120,615,000 after acquiring an additional 133,807 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,229,294 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $79,216,000 after acquiring an additional 387,848 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet lowered shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF stock opened at $57.78 on Thursday. First American Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $65.54. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.78 and a beta of 1.28.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.06). First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 101.92%.

First American Financial 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.