Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Short Interest Up 10.6% in August

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,720,000 shares, an increase of 10.6% from the July 31st total of 2,460,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 976,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FNF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.80.

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Financial

In other news, CFO Anthony Park sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.82, for a total value of $4,319,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,033,670.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fidelity National Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FNF. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $135,347,000. TPG GP A LLC bought a new stake in Fidelity National Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,798,000. Windacre Partnership LLC lifted its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Windacre Partnership LLC now owns 16,249,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $862,836,000 after buying an additional 1,424,767 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Fidelity National Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,212,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,875,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,427,102,000 after buying an additional 728,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Fidelity National Financial Price Performance

FNF stock opened at $58.96 on Friday. Fidelity National Financial has a 52 week low of $37.10 and a 52 week high of $59.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.35.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 6.55%. Fidelity National Financial’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.