Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Sells 42,260 Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust decreased its holdings in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 978,982 shares of the company’s stock after selling 42,260 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust owned 0.67% of First Advantage worth $19,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FA. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in First Advantage in the 3rd quarter worth about $676,000. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $234,000. Quarry LP raised its position in First Advantage by 49.7% in 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 period. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $12,906,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

First Advantage Price Performance

NYSE FA opened at $17.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.47. First Advantage Co. has a 52-week low of $12.46 and a 52-week high of $20.75. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.18.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. First Advantage had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $184.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Advantage Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Advantage 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.