Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

FNF has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. National Bank Financial set a $54.00 price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fidelity National Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

Fidelity National Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FNF opened at $47.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.30 and its 200 day moving average is $49.25. Fidelity National Financial has a 52 week low of $42.78 and a 52 week high of $61.40.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.08. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Fidelity National Financial’s payout ratio is 73.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fidelity National Financial news, EVP Peter T. Sadowski sold 69,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.70, for a total value of $3,162,257.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,581.40. This represents a 92.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fidelity National Financial in the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) is a leading provider of title insurance and transaction services to the real estate and mortgage industries. The company underwrites title insurance policies that protect property owners and lenders against title defects, liens, and other encumbrances. Alongside its core title insurance operations, FNF offers escrow and closing services, e-recording solutions, and real estate data and analytics through a network of agents and underwriters.

FNF operates through two primary segments: Title Insurance and Specialty Insurance and Services.