Short Interest in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) Declines By 14.2%

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, a decline of 14.2% from the January 15th total of 1,270,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 521,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on FAF. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $68.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of First American Financial from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.50.

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FAF. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 66.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 132.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 625 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 214.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First American Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of First American Financial stock opened at $63.77 on Tuesday. First American Financial has a 12-month low of $51.60 and a 12-month high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.65 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.00.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 7.95%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First American Financial will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 242.70%.

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.