Certified Advisory Corp Invests $218,000 in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,376 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth $64,000. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FAF stock traded down $0.56 on Thursday, hitting $55.59. The company had a trading volume of 22,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 668,162. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.76. First American Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $49.55 and a twelve month high of $65.54.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 3.97 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 101.44%.

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.