First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Now Covered by William Blair

Investment analysts at William Blair initiated coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on FA. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on First Advantage from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on First Advantage from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Advantage currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

First Advantage Trading Up 0.1 %

FA stock opened at $16.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.72, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.21. First Advantage has a twelve month low of $12.10 and a twelve month high of $17.49. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.04 and a 200-day moving average of $15.55.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $202.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.05 million. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 4.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Advantage will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Advantage

In other First Advantage news, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total transaction of $339,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 696,298 shares in the company, valued at $11,802,251.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 3.4% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,460,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,717,000 after purchasing an additional 115,370 shares during the last quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP grew its position in First Advantage by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP now owns 3,325,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,109,000 after purchasing an additional 303,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Advantage by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,660,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,090,000 after acquiring an additional 255,807 shares during the period. Sunriver Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Advantage by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 1,151,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,083,000 after buying an additional 240,464 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in First Advantage by 3,654.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,027,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,174,000 after buying an additional 1,000,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

About First Advantage

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.