Amundi Makes New Investment in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Amundi purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 31,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bar Harbor Wealth Management lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 43.6% during the fourth quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 96,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,033,000 after acquiring an additional 29,324 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in First American Financial by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,821 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,016,000 after buying an additional 8,047 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First American Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,180,000 after buying an additional 10,489 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,476,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First American Financial by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,700,903 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,306,000 after acquiring an additional 12,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FAF. Stephens lifted their price target on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

First American Financial Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of FAF stock opened at $64.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.34. First American Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $51.60 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.99 and a beta of 1.34.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is presently 172.80%.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In other First American Financial news, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 195,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total transaction of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.