Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Short Interest Up 20.8% in April

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,150,000 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the April 15th total of 1,780,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 693,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Sterling Check

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STER. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,801 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sterling Check in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Sterling Check by 55.1% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 10,684 shares of the company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Sterling Check during the 4th quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sterling Check during the third quarter worth about $168,000. Institutional investors own 84.34% of the company's stock.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

Shares of STER stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.47. The stock had a trading volume of 187,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 532,132. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of -154.70 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Sterling Check has a one year low of $10.00 and a one year high of $16.68. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $15.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.98.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 8.50% and a negative net margin of 1.19%. The business had revenue of $169.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.07 million. On average, analysts forecast that Sterling Check will post 0.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STER has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair lowered shares of Sterling Check from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sterling Check in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a "hold" rating and set a $16.50 target price (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Sterling Check in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

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