First American Financial Corporation $FAF Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has reduced its stake in First American Financial Corporation by 4.7%, owning approximately 95,469 shares valued at $6.27 million after selling 4,702 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in First American Financial, with Cetera Investment Advisers significantly boosting its position by 137.8% in the same period.
• First American Financial reported a quarterly earnings of $1.53 per share, exceeding estimates, and has announced a stock buyback plan of $300 million, indicating confidence in its undervaluation.

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in shares of First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 95,469 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,702 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.09% of First American Financial worth $6,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners boosted its stake 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 valued at $307,181,000 after purchasing an additional 876,874 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First American Financial by 4.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,150,660 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $272,406,000 after acquiring an additional 187,144 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in First American Financial by 6.2% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,626,142 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $106,724,000 after acquiring an additional 95,165 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in First American Financial by 15.5% in the first quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,203,977 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $79,017,000 after acquiring an additional 161,819 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in First American Financial by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,189,162 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $74,251,000 after acquiring an additional 295,946 shares during the period. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First American Financial

In other First American Financial news, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $229,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 28,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,843,874.85. This represents a 11.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of FAF stock traded up $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.99. 712,158 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 508,997. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.01 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's fifty day moving average is $62.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.26. First American Financial Corporation has a 52-week low of $53.09 and a 52-week high of $70.92.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.53 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 net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 10.41%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that permits the company to buyback $300.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FAF shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.00.

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.