First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• First Advantage Co. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from seven research firms, with five analysts suggesting a hold and two recommending a buy.
• The average one-year price target for First Advantage among brokerages is $20.25, with recent price targets set between $18.00 and $20.00.
• Institutional investors currently own 94.91% of the company's stock, with notable increases in stakes from various hedge funds in recent quarters.

Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.25.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on First Advantage from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in First Advantage by 1,208.3% in the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the first quarter valued at $63,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the second quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First Advantage by 748.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Advantage Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:FA opened at $16.48 on Friday. First Advantage has a 12-month low of $12.32 and a 12-month high of $20.79. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.41. The company has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 549.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

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