Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF) Upgraded to “Buy” at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning. The firm currently has $54.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

According to Zacks, “Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. is a leading provider of title insurance, specialty insurance and claims management services. FNT is one of the nation’s largest title insurance companies through its title insurance underwriters. FNT also provides flood insurance, personal lines insurance and home warranty insurance through it specialty insurance business. FNT also is a leading provider of outsourced claims management services to large corporate and public sector entities through its minority-owned subsidiary, Sedgwick CMS. “

FNF has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Barclays PLC increased their price objective on Fidelity National Financial from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies reissued a buy rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Friday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $46.80.

Shares of Fidelity National Financial (FNF) traded up 0.57% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.05. 541,249 shares of the stock were exchanged. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.05. Fidelity National Financial has a 12-month low of $31.64 and a 12-month high of $49.37. The firm has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.95.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.03. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 7.49%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. Fidelity National Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Fidelity National Financial will post $2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.67%.

In related news, insider Brent B. Bickett sold 58,896 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.77, for a total value of $2,636,773.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 562,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,190,198.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Michael Joseph Nolan sold 80,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total value of $3,514,152.96. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 176,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,662,218.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 272,859 shares of company stock valued at $12,482,636. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 6.0% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 113,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,433,000 after buying an additional 6,492 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 38.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 844,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,899,000 after buying an additional 236,376 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 2.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,066,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,548,000 after buying an additional 30,086 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 4.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 53,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 2,496 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 0.4% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 13,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 86.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Fidelity National Financial

Fidelity National Financial, Inc (FNF) is a holding company. FNF, through its subsidiaries, provides title insurance, mortgage services and diversified services. FNF operates in four segments: Fidelity National Title Group, Remy, Restaurant Group and Corporate and Other. The Fidelity National Title Group segment consists of the operations of FNF’s title insurance underwriters and related businesses.

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