iSAM Funds UK Ltd Makes New $977,000 Investment in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,647 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $977,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,967 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In related news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $815,006.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,586,795.36. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Stock Up 0.3%

FAF traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,092,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 678,842. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.09. First American Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $51.85 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49 and a beta of 1.29.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.19. First American Financial had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 143.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FAF has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of 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. Stephens raised their price target 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.00.

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.