First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.27 EPS

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.27, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. First American Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 12.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share.

First American Financial Trading Up 1.9%

FAF stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.13. 80,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,178. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.32. First American Financial has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $71.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 251,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. This trade represents a 21.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First American Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Boston Partners raised its stake in First American Financial by 8.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $393,690,000 after purchasing an additional 500,649 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First American Financial by 88.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,854 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,766,000 after purchasing an additional 485,731 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in First American Financial by 150.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 620,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $38,136,000 after purchasing an additional 372,821 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in First American Financial by 163.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,823 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,053,000 after purchasing an additional 290,310 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in First American Financial by 3,028.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 239,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,744,000 after purchasing an additional 232,303 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FAF shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First American Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stephens raised shares of First American Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.