Analysts Set Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Target Price at $15.30

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.20.

Separately, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

NASDAQ STER opened at $16.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Sterling Check has a twelve month low of $10.00 and a twelve month high of $17.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -166.70 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Lou Paglia sold 17,526 shares of Sterling Check stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.19, for a total value of $266,219.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 618,331 shares in the company, valued at $9,392,447.89. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sterling Check

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STER. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 450,833 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Sterling Check by 176.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 253,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after buying an additional 161,668 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in Sterling Check by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 226,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sterling Check by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,477,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,673,000 after acquiring an additional 487,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

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.