Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts are cautious on FNF: Fidelity National Financial has an average rating of "Hold" from five brokerages, with a mix of one sell, two hold, and two buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $55.50.
• Recent earnings missed estimates: For the quarter ended May 6, FNF reported $0.93 EPS versus the expected $1.09, and revenue of $3.23 billion versus the $3.61 billion forecast. Revenue still rose 18.2% year over year.
• The company continues to return cash to shareholders: FNF paid a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, or $2.08 annually, implying a 4.4% yield. Insider activity also included EVP Peter T. Sadowski selling a large portion of his holdings.

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $55.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded Fidelity National Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $61.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

NYSE FNF opened at $47.16 on Wednesday. Fidelity National Financial has a fifty-two week low of $42.78 and a fifty-two week high of $61.40. The stock has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $48.56 and a 200-day moving average of $50.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.61 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 5.10%.The business's revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Fidelity National Financial will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Fidelity National Financial's payout ratio is currently 75.91%.

Insider Activity at Fidelity National Financial

In other news, EVP Peter T. Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of Fidelity National Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $260,581.40. The trade was a 92.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Fidelity National Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,585,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 342,784.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 150,869 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,976,000 after acquiring an additional 150,825 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,439,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 99.7% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 57,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,468,000 after acquiring an additional 28,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 1.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,364,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $203,481,000 after acquiring an additional 56,170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.17% of the company's stock.

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.

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