First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Receives "Overweight" Rating from Stephens

Key Points

• Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating on First American Financial and set an $84 price target, implying about 29.7% upside from the current share price.
• The stock has attracted generally positive analyst attention overall, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $82.50, though a few firms have recently adjusted their views.
• First American Financial beat first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.33 EPS versus $1.06 expected and $1.85 billion in revenue, while shares were trading around $64.77 and down 2.1% on the day.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating reissued by analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $84.00 price target on the insurance provider's stock. Stephens' target price points to a potential upside of 29.69% from the stock's current price.

FAF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First American Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First American Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.50.

First American Financial Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of FAF stock opened at $64.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.69. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.24. First American Financial has a 12-month low of $53.09 and a 12-month high of $71.47.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.27. First American Financial had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 8.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. First American Financial's quarterly revenue was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that First American Financial will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Margaret M. Mccarthy sold 6,630 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $468,011.70. Following the sale, the director owned 24,024 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,854.16. This trade represents a 21.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 5,823 shares of First American Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $399,632.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,033,850.05. This represents a 16.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 3.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FAF. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in First American Financial by 42.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 624,123 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,628,000 after purchasing an additional 184,896 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 68.4% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 9,628 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 25.2% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 120,448 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,262,000 after buying an additional 24,224 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 88,582 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,340,000 after buying an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of First American Financial by 60.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,652 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the company's stock.

About First American Financial

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.