First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.83.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on FA shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on First Advantage in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research lowered First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased 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 valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Advantage in the second quarter valued at $378,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 258,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Advantage by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 607,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,770,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 4,414 shares during the period. 94.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Advantage Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE FA opened at $19.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 660.67 and a beta of 1.17. First Advantage has a twelve month low of $14.01 and a twelve month high of $20.79. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $18.97 and its 200 day moving average is $17.92.

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

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.