First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $58.83.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of First Advantage in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Advantage

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FA. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of First Advantage by 50.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,600,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886,716 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 155.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,473 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in First Advantage during the second quarter worth $12,906,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in First Advantage by 9.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,777,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,711,000 after purchasing an additional 496,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,628,000. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

First Advantage Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FA opened at $18.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 608.33 and a beta of 1.18. First Advantage has a 12 month low of $13.88 and a 12 month high of $20.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.65.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $199.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.39 million. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Advantage will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Advantage Company Profile

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.