Capital International Inc. CA Buys New Shares in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Capital International Inc. CA purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,094 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,963,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $247,481,000 after buying an additional 129,863 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its position in shares of First American Financial by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 847,843 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,939,000 after purchasing an additional 17,879 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,655,000. Finally, Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,626,000. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total transaction of $7,121,355.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares in the company, valued at $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total value of $815,006.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock worth $8,136,565. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FAF traded down $1.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.98. 714,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 660,834. First American Financial Co. has a 12 month low of $51.85 and a 12 month high of $70.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.72. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.78 and a beta of 1.23.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. Equities research analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded First American Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.50.

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.