Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $42.21 and last traded at $42.2030, with a volume of 315110 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FNF shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. National Bank Financial set a $54.00 price objective on Fidelity National Financial in a report on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Fidelity National Financial Trading Down 0.7%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.12. The firm has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. Fidelity National Financial’s payout ratio is currently 73.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Peter Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total transaction of $3,162,257.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at $260,581.40. This represents a 92.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,777,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $260,060,000 after buying an additional 47,639 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 30.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,210,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,287,000 after acquiring an additional 973,891 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $181,017,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,529,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,313,000 after acquiring an additional 13,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 12.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,345,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,416,000 after acquiring an additional 144,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc (NYSE:FNF) is a provider of title insurance, escrow and settlement services, and other title-related products in the United States. Through its Fidelity National Title Group businesses, the company helps protect property buyers, lenders and other parties against losses arising from defects in real estate titles and supports the closing of residential and commercial property transactions.

FNF’s title operations include well-known brands such as Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title.