Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) to Outperform

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $75.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.34% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, Stephens upped their target price on shares of First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

First American Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FAF opened at $61.30 on Tuesday. First American Financial has a 1 year low of $51.60 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.04 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.15.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.22. First American Financial had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 2.14%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First American Financial will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First American Financial

In other news, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This trade represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Mark Edward Seaton sold 12,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.28, for a total transaction of $815,006.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 195,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,586,795.36. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First American Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in First American Financial by 645.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of First American Financial by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,071 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the third quarter valued at about $75,000. 89.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First American Financial Company Profile

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.