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

Shares of Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.30.

Several brokerages have commented on STER. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Sterling Check in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $16.50 price target (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Sterling Check in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair cut Sterling Check from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Sterling Check Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:STER opened at $16.08 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.38. Sterling Check has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $16.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its 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). Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 9.47% and a negative net margin of 0.02%. The company had revenue of $169.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.07 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Sterling Check will post 0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Sterling Check

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Sterling Check by 389.6% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 38,829 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Sterling Check by 61.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the period. Sunriver Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sterling Check by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 1,107,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,419,000 after buying an additional 209,823 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Sterling Check by 537.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 7,704 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Sterling Check by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 38,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 9,441 shares during the period. 84.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.