Short Interest in Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) Drops By 7.7%

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,510,000 shares, a decrease of 7.7% from the August 15th total of 2,720,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 992,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 845.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 631,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,234,000 after buying an additional 564,980 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Fidelity National Financial by 673.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 666,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,412,000 after buying an additional 580,694 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 327,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,375,000 after purchasing an additional 23,358 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 13,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of Fidelity National Financial by 11,119.1% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 124,308 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 123,200 shares in the last quarter. 81.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FNF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Fidelity National Financial from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Fidelity National Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Fidelity National Financial in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.80.

Fidelity National Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FNF traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $60.92. The stock had a trading volume of 125,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,526. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06 and a beta of 1.36. Fidelity National Financial has a twelve month low of $37.10 and a twelve month high of $61.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.49.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE:FNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. Fidelity National Financial had a net margin of 7.19% and a return on equity of 14.48%. Fidelity National Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Fidelity National Financial will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Fidelity National Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.16%.

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.