First Advantage's (FA) Hold Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has reaffirmed its "hold" rating for First Advantage (NYSE:FA), amidst mixed feedback from other analysts.
• Royal Bank of Canada downgraded its rating from "outperform" to "sector perform"** with a price target of $20, while Barclays raised its target from $15 to $18.
• First Advantage reported a 111.7% increase in revenue year-over-year and exceeded earnings expectations for the last quarter, indicating strong business growth potential.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reissued by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on FA. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of First Advantage from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of First Advantage from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.25.

First Advantage Stock Up 4.9%

First Advantage stock traded up $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,153,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,122. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 3.85. First Advantage has a 52-week low of $12.32 and a 52-week high of $20.79. The firm's 50 day moving average is $17.07 and its 200 day moving average is $16.31. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 570.67 and a beta of 1.24.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 111.7% compared to the same quarter last year. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that First Advantage will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in First Advantage by 503.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,617 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter valued at approximately $636,000. Onex Canada Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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. Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its position 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 worth $28,304,000 after purchasing an additional 141,212 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new stake in First Advantage during the second quarter worth $735,000. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company's stock.

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.