Stephens Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for First American Financial (NYSE:FAF)

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by research analysts at Stephens in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $72.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Stephens’ price target suggests a potential upside of 32.79% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TheStreet lowered First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of First American Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.75.

First American Financial Stock Performance

First American Financial stock opened at $54.22 on Thursday. First American Financial has a 1 year low of $49.55 and a 1 year high of $65.54. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $57.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 1.28.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.22). First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 3.64%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial will post 4.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Oak Thistle LLC increased its stake in First American Financial by 231.4% during the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 19,250 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,087,000 after purchasing an additional 13,442 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in First American Financial by 33.6% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 20,260 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in First American Financial by 3.2% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,828 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in First American Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Finally, Nixon Peabody Trust Co. purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the third quarter worth about $201,000. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.