Lakewood Capital Management LP Acquires New Shares in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Lakewood Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 735,904 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,476,000. First American Financial comprises approximately 2.6% of Lakewood Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of First American Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $643,570,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in First American Financial by 8.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,690,000 after buying an additional 500,649 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in First American Financial by 4,485,375.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,786,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $355,508,000 after buying an additional 5,786,134 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 5.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,636,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $279,529,000 after buying an additional 245,279 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,415,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $209,868,000 after buying an additional 109,242 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First American Financial news, CAO Steven A. Adams sold 3,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $243,942.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $767,447.66. The trade was a 24.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FAF opened at $72.27 on Tuesday. First American Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $56.20 and a fifty-two week high of $79.87. The company has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.75.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.28. First American Financial had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial Corporation will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on FAF shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Zacks Research lowered First American Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of First American Financial from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.60.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.