Janus Henderson Group PLC Invests $778,000 in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 41,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $778,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fred Alger Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,167,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,867,000 after purchasing an additional 150,258 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 106.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 59,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,112,000 after buying an additional 30,669 shares in the last quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP now owns 1,849,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,640,000 after buying an additional 16,567 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of First Advantage in the fourth quarter valued at $132,000. Finally, ASK Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Advantage in the fourth quarter valued at $2,661,000. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of First Advantage from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.40.

First Advantage Stock Performance

FA stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.40. 761,542 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 829,065. First Advantage Co. has a one year low of $12.32 and a one year high of $20.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 3.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 580.00 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $15.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.95.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.04. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%. The firm's revenue was up 109.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

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.