SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Stake in First American Financial Corporation $FAF

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities cut its stake in First American by 58.0% in Q4, selling 16,120 shares and ending the period with 11,665 shares worth about $717,000.
• First American beat Q4 expectations with EPS of $1.99 versus $1.49 estimated and revenue of $2.0 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• Director Parker S. Kennedy bought 44,841 shares (~$3.04M), while analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with a $79 target and the stock yields about 3.5%.

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in First American Financial Corporation (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) by 58.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,665 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 16,120 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in First American Financial were worth $717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in First American Financial by 194.5% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,306,583 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $212,415,000 after acquiring an additional 2,183,960 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 8.9% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,133,594 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $393,690,000 after buying an additional 500,649 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 31.3% during the third quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 1,598,007 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $102,657,000 after buying an additional 380,744 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $21,028,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 163.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,823 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $30,053,000 after buying an additional 290,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Stock Performance

First American Financial stock opened at $63.28 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.25. First American Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $53.09 and a fifty-two week high of $71.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.28.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The insurance provider reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.50. First American Financial had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 11.92%. The firm had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that First American Financial Corporation will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. First American Financial's payout ratio is currently 36.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First American Financial

In related news, Director Parker S. Kennedy purchased 44,841 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $3,042,461.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 251,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,067,803.20. The trade was a 21.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays upgraded First American Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on First American Financial from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Stephens upgraded First American Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.00.

First American Financial Company Profile

First American Financial Corporation is a leading provider of title insurance, settlement services and diversified real estate-related data and analytics. Headquartered in Santa Ana, California, the company serves customers throughout the United States as well as in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Its business is built on the underwriting capabilities of its title insurance operations combined with comprehensive closing and escrow services for homebuyers, sellers, mortgage lenders and real estate professionals.

The company's title insurance segment issues policies that protect property owners and mortgage lenders against defects in titles, liens or encumbrances that can arise during real property transactions.

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