First American Financial Hikes Dividend, Hits 52-Week High - Analyst Blog
On Jan 22, First American Financial Corporation (FAF) shares scaled a 52-week high of $34.70 per share on the back of dividend increase and global expansion initiatives. With about 1.6 billion shares exchanging hands in the last trading session, the stock closed at $34.64, gaining 1.5%.
The one-year return from the stock came in at 30.4%, ahead of the S&P 500 return of 12.2%.
The board of directors raised the quarterly dividend by 4.2% to 25 cents per share with the intention of returning more value to its shareholders. The dividend is payable on Mar 16, 2015, to shareholders of record on Mar 9, 2015. The quarterly dividend is equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.00 per share, up from 96 cents paid previously. The new dividend will yield approximately 2.88% annually.
Earlier, First American Financial had increased its quarterly dividend by 12 cents to 24 cents per share in Mar 2014. This further reflects the company’s strong liquidity position. This initiative not only retains investors’ confidence in the stock but also attracts new investors.
Moreover, First American Financial has been consistently boosting its global presence. Last month, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary – First American Trust – opened a new location in Las Vegas thereby expanding its services. Moreover, the company completed the acquisition of Interthinx, Inc. in Mar 2014 which brought with it FraudGUARD – the market-leading mortgage fraud analytics product.
Currently, First American Financial holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Other Stocks to Consider
Better-ranked stocks in the property and casualty sector include The Allstate Corporation (ALL), The Chubb Corporation (CB) and HCI Group, Inc. (HCI). All of these sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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