First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.29.

A number of research firms have commented on FA. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company.

First Advantage Stock Performance

Shares of First Advantage stock opened at $18.43 on Friday. First Advantage has a one year low of $14.01 and a one year high of $20.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 614.33 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.23.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $234,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

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.