First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $71.93 and last traded at $71.5250, with a volume of 120038 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on FAF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on First American Financial from $87.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First American Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $84.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.00.

First American Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.62.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 8.73%.First American Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 16.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Research analysts predict that First American Financial Corporation will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.79%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 5,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $399,632.49. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,033,850.05. The trade was a 16.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 6,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $468,011.70. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,695,854.16. This represents a 21.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its stake in First American Financial by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 135,649 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,334,000 after buying an additional 46,639 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $6,713,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,608,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,046,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,693,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

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.