First American Financial Corporation $FAF is EMG Holdings L.P.'s 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• EMG Holdings L.P. increased its stake in First American Financial Corporation by 21.5% in the first quarter, making it the 8th largest position in their portfolio.
• First American Financial received a recent upgrade from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, with an average target price of $75.00 from analysts.
• The company has initiated a $300 million stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence from its board in the stock being undervalued.

EMG Holdings L.P. increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,018 shares during the quarter. First American Financial makes up 2.7% of EMG Holdings L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. EMG Holdings L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of First American Financial worth $5,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FAF. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 23.0% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,692,258 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $307,181,000 after purchasing an additional 876,874 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 500.7% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,003,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $62,646,000 after purchasing an additional 836,314 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in shares of First American Financial by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,993,155 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $249,333,000 after purchasing an additional 359,777 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the first quarter worth about $20,636,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $19,377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on First American Financial from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First American Financial from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $229,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,843,874.85. This trade represents a 11.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First American Financial Price Performance

NYSE:FAF opened at $66.4860 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73 and a beta of 1.24. First American Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.08.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. First American Financial had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 2.90%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

First American Financial Company 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.

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