Cerity Partners LLC Buys 1,741 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 40.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,043 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FAF. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $178,994,000 after purchasing an additional 473,961 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 46.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First American Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $9,061,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in First American Financial by 43.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 459,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,947,000 after acquiring an additional 139,532 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 6.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $120,615,000 after purchasing an additional 133,807 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAF has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FAF stock opened at $54.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 1.28. First American Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $65.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.27.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 3.64%. First American Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 4.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.44%.

About First American Financial

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.