Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 329.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,544 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,127 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in First American Financial were worth $1,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 132.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in First American Financial by 214.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First American Financial by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In other news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First American Financial Stock Performance

FAF opened at $63.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.75 and a beta of 1.33. First American Financial Co. has a one year low of $51.60 and a one year high of $70.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.11.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 172.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FAF shares. Stephens increased their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

First American Financial Company 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.