Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. National Bank Financial set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fidelity National Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

Fidelity National Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FNF opened at $47.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a current ratio of 0.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $49.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.95. Fidelity National Financial has a one year low of $42.78 and a one year high of $61.40.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.79 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 5.03%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Peter T. Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total transaction of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,581.40. The trade was a 92.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 4,524.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 20,659,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $974,290,000 after buying an additional 20,212,535 shares during the period. Windacre Partnership LLC boosted its position in Fidelity National Financial by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 18,905,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,143,569,000 after purchasing an additional 4,477,900 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Fidelity National Financial by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,469,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $572,782,000 after purchasing an additional 31,318 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,353,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $510,634,000 after purchasing an additional 193,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fidelity National Financial by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,800,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,342 shares during the period. 81.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.

FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.