Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) Shares Down 6.2% – Here’s Why

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF)’s stock price traded down 6.2% during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $38.70 and last traded at $38.6020. Approximately 1,082,223 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 1,847,246 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.16.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $10.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $47.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.79.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.08. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 5.03%.The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Fidelity National Financial, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.50%.

Institutional Trading of Fidelity National Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Fidelity National Financial by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 28.3% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 43,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 9,687 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 314.2% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 112,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,291,000 after purchasing an additional 85,106 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 13,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 4,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 81,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,824,000 after purchasing an additional 39,888 shares during the last quarter. 81.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc (NYSE:FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services in the United States. Through its title insurance companies, the company helps protect property owners and lenders against losses arising from defects in property titles and supports the closing of residential and commercial real estate transactions.

FNF operates a portfolio of well-known title brands, including Fidelity National Title, Chicago Title, Commonwealth Land Title and Alamo Title.