Short Interest in Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Drops By 16.6%

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a decline of 16.6% from the March 15th total of 2,470,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FNF. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 4,786 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 27.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,744 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,758,000 after buying an additional 12,326 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its position in Fidelity National Financial by 3.6% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 24,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 10.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 214,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $13,896,000 after acquiring an additional 20,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 19.5% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 190,407 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,392,000 after acquiring an additional 31,091 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FNF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Stephens raised their target price on Fidelity National Financial from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Fidelity National Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FNF traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.69. 847,473 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,115,221. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.24. Fidelity National Financial has a 1-year low of $47.79 and a 1-year high of $66.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $62.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.23.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.33 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 15.36% and a net margin of 9.28%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Fidelity National Financial will post 6.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Fidelity National Financial's payout ratio is currently 43.01%.

Fidelity National Financial Company Profile

Fidelity National Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various insurance products in the United States. The company operates through Title, F&G, and Corporate and Other segments. It offers title insurance, escrow, and other title related services, including trust activities, trustee sales guarantees, recordings and reconveyances, and home warranty products.