First American Financial Corporation FAF reported fourth-quarter 2019 operating income per share of $1.80, which outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 33.3%. Moreover, the bottom line improved 41.7%.Increase in investment income and improved segmental performance were partially offset by increase in expenses.First American Financial Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise First American Financial Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | First American Financial Corporation QuoteBehind the HeadlinesOperating revenues of $1.7 billion increased 22% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.9%.Net investment income grew 24.5% to $78.8 million.Closed title orders increased 27%, attributable to 131% increase in refinance orders.Average revenue per order decreased 8%, driven by the shift to refinance transactions.Total expense of $1.4 billion increased 10.9% year over year, attributable to increase in personnel costs, premiums retained by agents, other operating expenses, premium taxes and interest.Full-Year HighlightsOperating income per share of $5.76 outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.38. Moreover, the bottom line surged 25.8%.Revenues of $6.2 billion increased 8% from 2018 and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.8%.Segment ResultsTitle Insurance and Services: Total revenues increased 21.1% year over year to $1.6 billion.Pre-tax margin expanded 740 bps.Direct open orders increased 24.4% to $251.7 billion while Direct closed orders increased 27% to $224.2 billion year over year.Specialty Insurance: Total revenues increased 17.9% year over year to $131.6 million.Pre-tax margin was 16.7%, much higher than 0.7% in the year-ago quarter.Financial UpdateFirst American exited 2019 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.5 billion, up 1.3% year over year. Notes and contracts payable were $728 million, down 0.5% year over year.First American exited 2019 with stockholders’ equity of $4.4 billion, up 18.1% year over year.Return on equity was 17.3% in 2019.Cash flow from operations was $913.1 million, up 15% from 2018.Zacks RankFirst American currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Other Insurance ReleasesAmong other players from the insurance industry that have reported fourth-quarter earnings so far, the bottom line of Brown & Brown, Inc. BRO and RLI Corp. RLI beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate while that of Principal Financial PFG matched the same.Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.See the pot trades we're targeting>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report RLI Corp. (RLI): Free Stock Analysis Report First American Financial Corporation (FAF): Free Stock Analysis Report Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG): Free Stock Analysis Report Brown & Brown, Inc. (BRO): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research