Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.30.

Separately, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Lou Paglia sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $712,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 618,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,367,714.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sterling Check

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STER. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Sterling Check in the first quarter valued at approximately $18,939,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Sterling Check in the 1st quarter worth $9,648,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sterling Check by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,477,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,673,000 after buying an additional 487,600 shares in the last quarter. Sunriver Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 1,107,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,419,000 after acquiring an additional 209,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in Sterling Check by 176.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 253,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 161,668 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

Shares of Sterling Check stock traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $16.66. 227,946 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,076. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -166.70 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.98 and a 200 day moving average of $15.60. Sterling Check has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $17.05.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $200.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.81 million. Sterling Check had a negative net margin of 2.07% and a positive return on equity of 7.73%. Sterling Check’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sterling Check will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

About Sterling Check

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.