Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $385,000 Position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,172 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in First American Financial by 66.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of 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 worth $84,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,510 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First American Financial by 314.7% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,967 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price 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 objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded First American Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First American Financial from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First American Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $815,006.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

First American Financial Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:FAF traded down $1.06 on Thursday, hitting $54.66. 232,020 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,865. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.75 and a beta of 1.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $61.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.18. First American Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $51.85 and a 1-year high of $70.92.

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

First American Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. First American Financial's payout ratio is 143.05%.

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.