Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases 121,687 Shares of First Advantage Co. $FA

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC increased its stake in First Advantage Co. by 10.4% in Q1, owning 1,289,173 shares worth approximately $18.16 million.
• Analysts recently exhibited a positive outlook, with Zacks Research upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" and Barclays increasing the price target from $15.00 to $18.00.
• First Advantage reported a significant financial performance with a 111.7% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, exceeding EPS estimates at $0.27 per share.

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Free Report) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,289,173 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 121,687 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC owned approximately 0.74% of First Advantage worth $18,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Petrus Trust Company LTA increased its position in shares of First Advantage by 124.5% during the first quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 35,849 shares of the company's stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 19,880 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in First Advantage by 4.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Sunriver Management LLC grew its position in First Advantage by 49.2% in the first quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 3,420,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,272 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its position in First Advantage by 45.4% in the first quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 391,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 122,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in First Advantage by 200.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,409,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company's stock.

First Advantage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FA traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.78. 671,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,784. First Advantage Co. has a twelve month low of $12.32 and a twelve month high of $20.79. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $16.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 526.00 and a beta of 1.23.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 111.7% compared to the same quarter last year. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FA. Barclays raised their target price on shares of First Advantage from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Advantage from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.25.

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.