First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• First Advantage Co. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from seven brokerages, with an average 12-month target price set at $20.00.
• Insider trading activities show President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares at an average price of $15.70, resulting in an 18.81% decrease in her holdings.
• During the second quarter, institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in First Advantage, with firms like Tower Research Capital raising positions by as much as 503.2%.

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

FA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Advantage from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Advantage

In other news, President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total value of $155,430.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 42,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,813.90. This trade represents a 18.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FA. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of First Advantage by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 204,321 shares of the company's stock worth $3,394,000 after acquiring an additional 44,477 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 503.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,932 shares of the company's stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,617 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in First Advantage during the second quarter worth approximately $636,000. Onex Canada Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Advantage by 7.0% in the second quarter. Onex Canada Asset Management Inc. now owns 531,169 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,823,000 after purchasing an additional 34,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP increased its stake in First Advantage by 9.0% in the second quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 1,704,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,304,000 after purchasing an additional 141,212 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Advantage Price Performance

Shares of FA opened at $15.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 525.33 and a beta of 1.21. First Advantage has a fifty-two week low of $12.32 and a fifty-two week 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $16.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.17.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm posted $0.21 earnings per share. First Advantage's quarterly revenue was up 111.7% on a year-over-year basis. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that First Advantage will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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