Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,220,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the May 31st total of 3,400,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Financial

In other news, CFO Anthony Park sold 85,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $4,319,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,033,670.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Halim Dhanidina sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.64, for a total value of $151,920.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,839.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Anthony Park sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total transaction of $4,319,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,049 shares in the company, valued at $5,033,670.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FNF. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 107.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Fidelity National Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Fidelity National Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 109.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on FNF. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.40.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FNF stock opened at $48.72 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.34. Fidelity National Financial has a 52 week low of $34.96 and a 52 week high of $53.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $13.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.35.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.08). Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 6.55% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The business had revenue of $3.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 33.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.16%.

About Fidelity National Financial

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.