EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAF. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,608,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,713,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter worth $63,693,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 81.6% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 79,362 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,876,000 after buying an additional 35,650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in shares of First American Financial during the first quarter worth $71,680,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In related news, CAO Steven A. Adams sold 3,253 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.99, for a total transaction of $243,942.47. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $767,447.66. This represents a 24.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of FAF opened at $72.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.22. First American Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $56.20 and a 1 year high of $79.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.75.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.28. First American Financial had a return on equity of 13.31% and a net margin of 9.33%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial Corporation will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FAF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of First American Financial from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First American Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on First American Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.60.

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.