Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Fidelity National Financial, Inc. $FNF

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,663,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 124,926 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.30% of Fidelity National Financial worth $200,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 31.0% in the third quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 18,905,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,143,569,000 after acquiring an additional 4,477,900 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Fidelity National Financial by 167.8% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,741,145 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $286,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,970,460 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,057,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,503,000 after purchasing an additional 2,174,220 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,362,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 12.3% in the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,258,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $318,081,000 after buying an additional 574,189 shares in the last quarter. 81.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FNF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Fidelity National Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. National Bank Financial set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $63.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.67.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of FNF opened at $51.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.44. Fidelity National Financial, Inc. has a one year low of $42.78 and a one year high of $64.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.00.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.10). Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.65%.

Fidelity National Financial Profile

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.

FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.