William Blair Reiterates Outperform Rating for First Advantage (NYSE:FA)

First Advantage (NYSE:FA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at William Blair in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,RTT News reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FA. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.29.

First Advantage Stock Down 1.4 %

FA opened at $19.53 on Wednesday. First Advantage has a fifty-two week low of $14.01 and a fifty-two week high of $20.79. 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 fifty day moving average of $18.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 651.00 and a beta of 1.18.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that First Advantage will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in First Advantage by 16.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $378,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in First Advantage by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 258,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,150,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in First Advantage by 38.3% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 4,414 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Advantage Company Profile

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.