First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Downgraded to Sector Perform Rating by Royal Bank of Canada

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $20.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target suggests a potential upside of 12.17% from the company's current price.

FA has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 price objective (down previously from $20.00) on shares of First Advantage in a report on Thursday, April 10th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of First Advantage from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.40.

First Advantage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FA traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.83. 1,067,039 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 800,082. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 594.33 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.98. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. First Advantage has a 52-week low of $12.32 and a 52-week high of $20.79.

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

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC bought a new position in First Advantage during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in First Advantage in the first quarter worth approximately $63,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in First Advantage by 748.5% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in First Advantage by 2,967.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,232 shares of the company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 8,931 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.