Short Interest in Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Drops By 7.7%

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, a drop of 7.7% from the August 15th total of 2,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 992,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Fidelity National Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 2.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,875,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,427,102,000 after acquiring an additional 728,768 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 9.6% during the first quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 16,249,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,767 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,181,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,332,000 after buying an additional 640,829 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 5,937,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $293,436,000 after buying an additional 184,078 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,428,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,421,000 after buying an additional 77,118 shares during the period. 81.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fidelity National Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FNF traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.92. The company had a trading volume of 125,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,526. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.46 and its 200 day moving average is $52.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06 and a beta of 1.36. Fidelity National Financial has a twelve month low of $37.10 and a twelve month high of $61.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.03). Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 14.48% and a net margin of 7.19%. The company had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Fidelity National Financial’s payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FNF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fidelity National Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.80.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products.