Fidelity National To Buy Majority Stake In Title Guaranty

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF) has agreed to buy a majority ownership stake in Title Guaranty of Hawaii in a bid to ramp up its inorganic growth profile. Post-acquisition, Title Guaranty will come under the umbrella of FNF title company family.

Established in 1896, Title Guaranty boasts being the oldest title insurance company in the state of Hawaii. The company is an ace provider of title and escrow services.

Title Guaranty’s association with Fidelity National dates back to over three decades. Adding Title Guaranty to its portfolio consolidates its title and escrow service capabilities.

Fidelity National, a title insurer, continually pursues strategic acquisitions to enhance its product portfolio as well as diversify the same. Last month, the company acquired Hudson & Marshall, a full-service auction company and a top national real estate and property auction provider.

The company chases such buyouts supported by a strong financial position that in turn is driven by a steady operational performance. Fidelity National stated that it continuously assesses its capital allocation strategy to make lucrative investments, generating higher returns to the company.

Shares of Fidelity National rallied 14.33% quarter to date, outperforming the Zacks categorized Property and Casualty Insurance industry’s 1.55% increase. The company also witnessed estimates moving north over the last 60 days. We expect the company’s strategic endeavors to accelerate growth via organic as well as inorganic means to drive the shares higher.

Fidelity National currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in property and casualty industry can look at a few other top-ranked stocks in the space namely, CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE:CNA) , State National Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNC) and Progressive Corp. (NYSE:PGR) . Each stock flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CNA Financial offers commercial P&C insurance products, primarily in the United States. The company has delivered positive surprises in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 12.45%.

Progressive provides personal and commercial property-casualty insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services primarily in the United States. The company has delivered positive surprises in two of the last four quarters with an average beat of 4.95%.

State National Companies provides property and casualty insurance in the United States. The company delivered positive surprises in two of last four quarters with average beat of 20.54%.

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