Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 29,000 First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 29,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,869,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in First American Financial by 1.5% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 2.4% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 44,007 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,486,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 3.0% in the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First American Financial by 7.1% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 3,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of FAF opened at $55.25 on Friday. First American Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $49.55 and a 1-year high of $65.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.56 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.16.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.06). First American Financial had a net margin of 3.61% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. First American Financial’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. First American Financial’s payout ratio is 101.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TheStreet cut shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of First American Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

About First American Financial

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.