BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 100,291 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 89.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,742 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 100,291 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in First American Financial were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 314.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FAF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays increased their target price on First American Financial from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.00.

First American Financial Stock Down 0.3%

FAF stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.11. The company had a trading volume of 72,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,012. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93 and a beta of 1.29. First American Financial Co. has a one year low of $51.85 and a one year high of $70.92. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $60.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.98.

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. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.53 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 143.05%.

First American Financial Profile

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.