First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, a growth of 24.0% from the November 30th total of 1,250,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FAF shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on First American Financial from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on First American Financial from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 23.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 20,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,914 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $194,000. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of First American Financial by 303.2% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 15,797 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 11,879 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC boosted its position in First American Financial by 2.3% during the second quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 8,218 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:FAF traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $62.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 55,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 657,958. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.32 and a 200-day moving average of $62.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.85 and a beta of 1.30. First American Financial has a 52-week low of $51.60 and a 52-week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.19. First American Financial had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 7.95%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. First American Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. First American Financial’s payout ratio is currently 242.70%.

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.