First American Financial (FAF) Competitors

Stewart Information Services (NYSE:STC) and First American Financial (NYSE:FAF) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, community ranking, profitability, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Which has more volatility & risk, STC or FAF?

Stewart Information Services has a beta of 1.17, indicating that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First American Financial has a beta of 1.28, indicating that its share price is 28% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer STC or FAF?

First American Financial received 84 more outperform votes than Stewart Information Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 60.57% of users gave First American Financial an outperform vote while only 52.47% of users gave Stewart Information Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Stewart Information Services	Outperform Votes 191 52.47%	Underperform Votes 173 47.53%
First American Financial	Outperform Votes 275 60.57%	Underperform Votes 179 39.43%

Is STC or FAF a better dividend stock?

Stewart Information Services pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. First American Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Stewart Information Services pays out 125.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. First American Financial pays out 101.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stewart Information Services has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and First American Financial has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. First American Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, STC or FAF?

First American Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Stewart Information Services. First American Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Stewart Information Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stewart Information Services	$2.26B	0.77	$30.44M	$1.52	41.81
First American Financial	$6.00B	0.95	$216.80M	$2.09	26.19

Do insiders & institutionals believe in STC or FAF?

96.9% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.1% of First American Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Stewart Information Services shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First American Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is STC or FAF more profitable?

First American Financial has a net margin of 3.64% compared to First American Financial's net margin of 1.83%. Stewart Information Services' return on equity of 8.17% beat First American Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stewart Information Services	1.83%	4.69%	2.39%
First American Financial	3.64%	8.17%	2.51%

Do analysts recommend STC or FAF?

Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus target price of $69.33, indicating a potential upside of 9.60%. First American Financial has a consensus target price of $67.75, indicating a potential upside of 23.56%. Given Stewart Information Services' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First American Financial is more favorable than Stewart Information Services.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stewart Information Services	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
First American Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Does the media prefer STC or FAF?

In the previous week, First American Financial had 2 more articles in the media than Stewart Information Services. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for First American Financial and 8 mentions for Stewart Information Services. First American Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.60 beat Stewart Information Services' score of 0.08 indicating that Stewart Information Services is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stewart Information Services	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First American Financial	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

First American Financial beats Stewart Information Services on 17 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.