William Blair Forecasts Lower Earnings for First Advantage

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) – Investment analysts at William Blair cut their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of First Advantage in a research note issued on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $0.74 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $0.77. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Advantage’s current full-year earnings is $0.75 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for First Advantage’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.19 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.27 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.65 EPS.

FA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on First Advantage in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research cut shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

First Advantage Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:FA opened at $19.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 644.67 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.03. First Advantage has a twelve month low of $14.01 and a twelve month high of $20.79.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FA. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 16.2% in 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 increased its position 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 valued at $4,150,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in First Advantage by 10.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 8.0% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Advantage

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.