First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Receives $18.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.00.

FA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of First Advantage from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of First Advantage from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Monday, May 13th.

Insider Transactions at First Advantage

In related news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 2,100 shares of First Advantage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.48, for a total value of $32,508.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $664,509.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 2,100 shares of First Advantage stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.48, for a total value of $32,508.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $664,509.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 7,331 shares of First Advantage stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total transaction of $117,882.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 688,967 shares in the company, valued at $11,078,589.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,034 shares of company stock worth $241,439. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FA. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of First Advantage by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,777,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,711,000 after acquiring an additional 496,898 shares in the last quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP grew its position in First Advantage by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Cat Rock Capital Management LP now owns 3,325,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,109,000 after purchasing an additional 303,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Advantage by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,660,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,090,000 after purchasing an additional 255,807 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in First Advantage by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunriver Management LLC grew its position in First Advantage by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 1,151,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,083,000 after purchasing an additional 240,464 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Advantage Price Performance

FA stock opened at $16.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.28 and a 200-day moving average of $16.21. The company has a current ratio of 4.29, a quick ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. First Advantage has a 12 month low of $12.46 and a 12 month high of $17.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.14.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.17. First Advantage had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 14.12%. The business had revenue of $169.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $167.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 earnings per share. First Advantage’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.