Vanguard Group Inc. Has $687.29 Million Holdings in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,472,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 152,840 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of First American Financial worth $687,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in First American Financial in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in First American Financial in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in First American Financial by 645.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in First American Financial by 132.1% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,216 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First American Financial by 23.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on First American Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First American Financial from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

First American Financial Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:FAF opened at $66.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $59.74 and its 200-day moving average is $61.04. First American Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $53.09 and a 1-year high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current year.

First American Financial announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 5.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.