First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 3,231,362 shares, a growth of 21.8% from the January 15th total of 2,653,192 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,211,772 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,211,772 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $393,690,000 after acquiring an additional 500,649 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in First American Financial by 4,485,375.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,786,263 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $355,508,000 after buying an additional 5,786,134 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,391,185 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $269,799,000 after buying an additional 97,612 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in First American Financial by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,415,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $209,868,000 after buying an additional 109,242 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,793,179 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $110,200,000 after buying an additional 19,752 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on First American Financial from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First American Financial from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.67.

First American Financial Trading Up 1.5%

FAF stock opened at $67.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.64. The company has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.27. First American Financial has a 12 month low of $53.09 and a 12 month high of $68.75.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.50. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 9th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.61%.

About First American Financial

First American Financial Corporation is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and diversified real estate-related data and analytics. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, the company serves customers throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Its business is built on the underwriting capabilities of its title insurance operations combined with comprehensive closing and escrow services for homebuyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and real estate professionals.

The company’s title insurance segment issues policies that protect property owners and mortgage lenders against defects in titles, liens or encumbrances that can arise during real property transactions.