Barclays Cuts First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Price Target to $79.00

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $83.00 to $79.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday, June 12th. Benchmark initiated coverage on First American Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a report on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of First American Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 note on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.80.

First American Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FAF stock opened at $61.26 on Monday. First American Financial has a 52 week low of $56.20 and a 52 week high of $79.87. The company has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.48, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.40.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 7.12 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 28th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 28th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.80%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Steven Adams sold 3,253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $243,942.47. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in First American Financial during the second quarter worth about $643,570,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 5.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,636,464 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $279,529,000 after acquiring an additional 245,279 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,415,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $209,868,000 after purchasing an additional 109,242 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,553,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,537,000 after purchasing an additional 28,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,500,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,160,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE: FAF) provides title insurance, settlement services and related real estate transaction solutions. Through its title insurance operations, the company protects property buyers, lenders and other parties against certain losses arising from defects in title, liens and other issues affecting ownership or mortgage interests.

The company also offers escrow and closing services, title search and examination, property information, valuation, mortgage subservicing and other technology-enabled solutions for the real estate and mortgage industries.