Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 21,767 Shares of First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 342,969 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,767 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.33% of First American Financial worth $21,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in First American Financial by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,340 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in First American Financial by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in First American Financial by 66.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 524 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in First American Financial by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in First American Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. 89.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis J. Gilmore sold 111,971 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.60, for a total value of $7,121,355.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 494,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,454,906.40. This trade represents a 18.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Lisa W. Cornehl sold 3,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.49, for a total value of $200,202.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,560,299.25. This represents a 11.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 127,707 shares of company stock valued at $8,136,565. 3.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FAF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First American Financial from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens upped their price objective on First American Financial from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

First American Financial Price Performance

FAF stock opened at $64.98 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.99 and a beta of 1.34. First American Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $51.60 and a 1 year high of $70.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.34.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The insurance provider reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect that First American Financial Co. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. First American Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 172.80%.

First American Financial 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.