Brokerages Set Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) PT at $15.30

Shares of Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment 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 a report on the stock in the last year is $15.30.

STER has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. William Blair downgraded shares of Sterling Check from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $16.50 price target (up from $14.00) on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Sterling Check Price Performance

Sterling Check stock opened at $15.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $15.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.67. Sterling Check has a 52-week low of $10.00 and a 52-week high of $16.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $169.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.07 million. Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 9.47% and a negative net margin of 0.02%. On average, research analysts expect that Sterling Check will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sterling Check

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Sterling Check by 71.1% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sterling Check during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Sterling Check by 55.1% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Check during the fourth quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Sterling Check during the third quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

Sterling Check Company Profile

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.