Fidelity earnings rise in weak housing market

Jacksonville-based title insurer Fidelity National Financial Inc. increased fourth-quarter earnings despite a continued weak housing market.

Adjusted earnings rose 4% to $382 million, or $1.41 per share, with revenue rising 12% to $4.05 billion.

"Our title business is performing extremely well in what is still a low transactional environment," CEO Mike Nolan said in a Feb. 20 conference call with analysts.

Nolan said high mortgage rates and a housing shortage have caused home sales to drop to some of the lowest levels in three decades.

The National Association of Realtors reports the annual number of home sales has been about 4 million since 2023, compared with an average of 5.1 million over the past 30 years, he said.

"Over the next few years, we anticipate home sales will trend back towards the historical average," Nolan said.

"We are well-positioned for the current market and poised to benefit from a potential turn in the housing market should mortgage rates drop further in 2026 and beyond. We remain bullish on the long-term prospects of the title insurance business even in the current environment," he said.

Nolan said recent declines in 30-year mortgage rates have sparked increased activity in refinancing orders for title insurance.

"Our refinance orders opened per day were up 38% over the fourth quarter of 2024, and up 75% for the month of January versus the prior year and up 28% for the month of January versus December," he said.

Commercial real estate title orders were strong in 2025, rising 21% from 2024, Nolan said.

"This year's performance is especially notable, given minimal contribution from the office sector which remains subdued, but is showing signs of improvement," he said.

During the fourth quarter, Fidelity spun off an additional 12% of its F&G Annuities & Life Inc. subsidiary to its shareholders, leaving Fidelity with a 70% stake in that business.

"This distribution reflects our confidence in F&G's long-term prospects and is intended to unlock shareholder value by enhancing market liquidity and broadening investor access to F&G's shares," Nolan said.

"Going forward, we expect F&G to be a meaningful source of capital to FNF, through its $112 million annual common and preferred dividends at the 70% ownership level, which indirectly benefits FNF shareholders," he said.

Dream Finders' earnings drop with lower home sales

While title insurer Fidelity increased earnings, Dream Finders Homes Inc. reported lower fourth-quarter earnings because of the housing market.

The Jacksonville-based home builder said Feb. 23 that revenue fell 22% to $1.21 billion and earnings dropped 54% to $58.7 million, or 58 cents a share.

Home closings fell 16% in the quarter to 2,536 and the average selling price of a Dream Finders home fell 9% to $460,442.

The company said the use of sales incentives and changes in its geographic product mix caused prices to drop.

"We pride ourselves on always being honest with our analysis of the business and the environment and clearly 2025 was a challenging year for the industry," CEO Patrick Zalupski said in a news release.

"The ongoing complexity and difficulty of the housing sector persisted through 2025, yet our results demonstrate the strength and resiliency of our business, as well as the perseverance of our team in a challenging environment," Zalupski said.

"As we look to 2026, we remain focused on further scaling our business and delivering long-term returns to our shareholders," he said.

Dream Finders is projecting to close on the sale of 9,250 homes in 2026, up from 8,608 closings in 2025.

Aside from its main home building business, Dream Finders in November entered into a partnership that bought the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa and Cabana Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach.

"This partnership provides opportunities to expand our lot pipeline and supports our future growth and profitability," Zalupski said in the release.

"We are very excited to own a meaningful portion of the partnership's economics and believe this irreplaceable asset was acquired at an attractive price that will yield very successful long-term results for our shareholders," he said.

Dream Finders did not announce the price of the Sawgrass Marriott deal but the Daily Record reported a filing with the St. Johns County Clerk of Court showed the property sold for $149.04 million.

Rayonier slightly reduces quarterly dividend

Rayonier Inc. said Feb. 23 it is reducing its quarterly dividend from 27.25 cents per common share to 26 cents.

The reduction resulted from a special $1.40-per-share dividend paid in December. The special dividend was paid in cash and stock, with the company paying out $54 million in cash and issuing 7.5 million new shares of stock.

Rayonier said the quarterly cash dividend was reduced because of the additional 7.5 million shares of common stock.

The special dividend was paid out before Rayonier completed its merger with PotlatchDeltic Corp. on Jan. 30.

Rayonier is moving its headquarters from Wildlight in Nassau County to Atlanta and is planning to change its name, although it hasn't yet announced the new name. The company said it will announce the name in the first quarter, which concludes at the end of March.