First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Earns “Overweight” Rating from Barclays

Barclays reissued their overweight rating on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $22.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on FA. Wolfe Research cut shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on First Advantage in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Advantage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.83.

First Advantage Price Performance

Shares of FA opened at $19.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 636.67 and a beta of 1.18. First Advantage has a 1 year low of $13.88 and a 1 year high of $20.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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