First American Financial (FAF) Competitors

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

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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	41.40
First American Financial	$6.00B	0.95	$216.80M	$2.09	26.32

Does the MarketBeat Community favor 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%

Which has more risk and volatility, STC or FAF?

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

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%

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 raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and First American Financial has raised 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.

Do insiders and 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. 3.0% 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.

Does the media prefer STC or FAF?

In the previous week, Stewart Information Services and Stewart Information Services both had 4 articles in the media. Stewart Information Services' average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat First American Financial's score of 0.75 indicating that First American Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stewart Information Services	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 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)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer STC or FAF?

Stewart Information Services presently has a consensus target price of $69.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.11%. First American Financial has a consensus target price of $67.75, indicating a potential upside of 23.14%. Given Stewart Information Services' higher probable upside, analysts clearly 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

Summary

First American Financial beats Stewart Information Services on 17 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.