Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,026,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,693,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 194.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,306,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $212,415,000 after buying an additional 2,183,960 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,690,000 after acquiring an additional 500,649 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,598,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $102,657,000 after acquiring an additional 380,744 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 163.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,053,000 after acquiring an additional 290,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 72.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 552,123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,468,000 after acquiring an additional 232,066 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In other First American Financial news, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 6,630 shares of the 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Parker S. Kennedy purchased 44,841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 251,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. The trade was a 21.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price on First American Financial from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. 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 raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.50.

First American Financial Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:FAF opened at $71.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.93. First American Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $53.09 and a twelve month high of $71.47.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.27. First American Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 8.73%.The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that First American Financial Corporation will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

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.