The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Position in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,846 shares of the company’s stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in First Advantage were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in First Advantage by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in First Advantage by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 258,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,150,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in First Advantage by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in First Advantage by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research cut First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on First Advantage in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Advantage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.29.

First Advantage Price Performance

NYSE:FA opened at $19.34 on Friday. First Advantage Co. has a 12 month low of $14.01 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 644.67 and a beta of 1.17.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $199.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.39 million. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%. The business’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Advantage Profile

First Advantage Corporation provides employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions worldwide. It offers pre-onboarding products and solutions, such as criminal background checks, drug/health screening, extended workforce screening, FBI channeling, identity checks and biometric fraud mitigation tools, education/work history verification, driver records and compliance, healthcare credentials, executive screening, and other screening products.