Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Receives $15.30 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.20.

Separately, Citigroup raised their price target on Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sterling Check news, insider Lou Paglia sold 17,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.19, for a total transaction of $266,219.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 618,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,392,447.89. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 9.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sterling Check

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 10.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 38.3% during the second quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,628,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,103,000 after acquiring an additional 450,833 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 176.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 253,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 161,668 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 58.9% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 226,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 84,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 24.5% during the second quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,477,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,673,000 after acquiring an additional 487,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

NASDAQ:STER opened at $16.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of -166.70 and a beta of 0.48. Sterling Check has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $17.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.62.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.04). Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 7.73% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $200.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sterling Check will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

About Sterling Check

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.