Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Short Interest Up 41.1% in March

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, an increase of 41.1% from the March 15th total of 1,070,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 595,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sterling Check

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Sterling Check by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,322,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,685,000 after buying an additional 1,860,674 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sterling Check by 59.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,959,579 shares of the company's stock worth $24,024,000 after purchasing an additional 728,411 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Sterling Check by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,495,154 shares of the company's stock worth $18,448,000 after purchasing an additional 475,838 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Sterling Check by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,881,118 shares of the company's stock worth $49,719,000 after purchasing an additional 422,576 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sterling Check by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,979,401 shares of the company's stock worth $37,600,000 after purchasing an additional 356,649 shares during the period. 84.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sterling Check Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STER traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.49. The stock had a trading volume of 494,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 590,876. Sterling Check has a 1 year low of $10.00 and a 1 year high of $16.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $14.88 and its 200-day moving average is $13.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 0.47.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). Sterling Check had a negative net margin of 0.02% and a positive return on equity of 9.47%. The firm had revenue of $169.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.07 million. Research analysts predict that Sterling Check will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on STER shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "hold" rating and issued a $16.50 price objective (up from $14.00) on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, William Blair lowered shares of Sterling Check from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.30.

Sterling Check Company Profile

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.