Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the November 30th total of 2,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fidelity National Financial news, Director Sandra Douglass Morgan sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $117,842.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,824,303.38. This trade represents a 6.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 19,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,225,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 15,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Fidelity National Financial by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

Fidelity National Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FNF opened at $56.14 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $46.85 and a fifty-two week high of $64.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.49.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.11). Fidelity National Financial had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $3.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Fidelity National Financial’s revenue was up 29.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Fidelity National Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Fidelity National Financial from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.80.

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.