FAF vs. ESNT, FNF, FRT, KIM, KNSL, MAS, MTG, PHM, STC, and WY
Should you be buying First American Financial stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of First American Financial include Essent Group (ESNT), Fidelity National Financial (FNF), Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT), Kimco Realty (KIM), Kinsale Capital Group (KNSL), Masco (MAS), MGIC Investment (MTG), PulteGroup (PHM), Stewart Information Services (STC), and Weyerhaeuser (WY).
First American Financial vs. Its Competitors
First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) and Essent Group (NYSE:ESNT) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.
First American Financial has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Essent Group has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Essent Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First American Financial. Essent Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First American Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Essent Group has a net margin of 56.36% compared to First American Financial's net margin of 2.90%. Essent Group's return on equity of 12.66% beat First American Financial's return on equity.
In the previous week, Essent Group had 6 more articles in the media than First American Financial. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Essent Group and 4 mentions for First American Financial. Essent Group's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat First American Financial's score of 0.63 indicating that Essent Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
89.1% of First American Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.0% of Essent Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of First American Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.9% of Essent Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
First American Financial presently has a consensus price target of $75.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.68%. Essent Group has a consensus price target of $63.67, indicating a potential downside of 0.92%. Given First American Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First American Financial is more favorable than Essent Group.
First American Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Essent Group pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First American Financial pays out 121.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Essent Group pays out 18.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First American Financial has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Essent Group has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. First American Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Essent Group beats First American Financial on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding FAF and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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First American Financial Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:FAF) was last updated on 9/25/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff