Duality Advisers LP Takes $1.56 Million Position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 24,261 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,563,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephenson & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth $813,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth $506,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in First American Financial in the 4th quarter worth $1,869,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in First American Financial by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First American Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of FAF stock opened at $57.09 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.27. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45 and a beta of 1.28. First American Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $49.55 and a twelve month high of $65.54.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First American Financial Co. will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 101.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

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.