First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Shares Down 8.3% Following Weak Earnings

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) shares fell 8.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $53.00 and last traded at $53.01. 231,537 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 686,556 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.78.

The insurance provider reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.22). First American Financial had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 3.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FAF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on First American Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. TheStreet cut shares of First American Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of First American Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of First American Financial in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.75.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bar Harbor Wealth Management purchased a new stake in First American Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,673,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 119.2% during the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 56,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,186,000 after acquiring an additional 30,664 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,563,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in First American Financial in the third quarter valued at $3,988,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in First American Financial by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,169,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $178,994,000 after purchasing an additional 473,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company’s stock.

First American Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.27. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 1.28.

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.