Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Short Interest Up 9.6% in April

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,780,000 shares, a growth of 9.6% from the March 31st total of 4,360,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,600,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FNF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.20.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE FNF traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 281,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,552,750. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Fidelity National Financial has a 1 year low of $32.02 and a 1 year high of $53.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20 and a beta of 1.34.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.27). Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 4.40% and a return on equity of 13.91%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fidelity National Financial news, Director Cary H. Thompson sold 23,410 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total transaction of $1,196,485.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,601.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Cary H. Thompson sold 23,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.11, for a total value of $1,196,485.10. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,060,601.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Halim Dhanidina sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.64, for a total transaction of $151,920.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,839.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,686,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,143,000 after acquiring an additional 477,493 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,113,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $311,916,000 after buying an additional 171,521 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,020,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,637,000 after buying an additional 86,446 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 195.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,261,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $217,425,000 after buying an additional 2,818,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 62.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,061,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,420,000 after buying an additional 1,179,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.17% of the company’s stock.

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.