First Eagle Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 187,285 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,720 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $11,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in First American Financial by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 82.3% in the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in First American Financial by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 129,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,910,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in First American Financial by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 44,447 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,864,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Stock Performance

FAF stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.82. 280,757 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 631,111. The company has a market cap of $6.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.12. First American Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $49.55 and a 52-week high of $65.54.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22). First American Financial had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. First American Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 3.83 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FAF. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of First American Financial from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $65.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First American Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.25.

First American Financial Profile

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.