First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Now Covered by William Blair

Research analysts at William Blair started coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on First Advantage from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on First Advantage from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

First Advantage Price Performance

FA opened at $16.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.55. First Advantage has a 12-month low of $12.10 and a 12-month high of $17.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.72, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.21.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 4.88%. The firm had revenue of $202.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $211.05 million. Equities analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Advantage

In other news, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total value of $339,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 696,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,802,251.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in First Advantage during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of First Advantage in the 4th quarter worth $179,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 17,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 2,211 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Advantage by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 6,270 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Advantage in the 4th quarter worth $271,000. 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.