First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Short Interest Update

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the June 30th total of 1,060,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 564,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $194,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 23.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 20,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,914 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 209,143 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,283,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 3,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 2,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in First American Financial by 3.6% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 135,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,742 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First American Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FAF opened at $60.58 on Thursday. First American Financial has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $65.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.85.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.28% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that First American Financial will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First American Financial from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.25.

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.