First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

First American Financial Co. (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $60.97, but opened at $59.48. First American Financial shares last traded at $61.80, with a volume of 42,394 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on FAF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised First American Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens upped their price target 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 Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $63.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.88.

First American Financial (NYSE:FAF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 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 fiscal year.

First American Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. First American Financial's dividend payout ratio is 172.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of First American Financial

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of First American Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $75,780,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of First American Financial by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,046,743 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $377,559,000 after buying an additional 1,042,145 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in First American Financial by 13,222.0% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 849,279 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $53,029,000 after buying an additional 842,904 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in First American Financial by 500.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,003,327 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $62,646,000 after acquiring an additional 836,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of First American Financial by 6,233.2% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 706,211 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $44,096,000 after acquiring an additional 695,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.05% of the company's stock.

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.