MQS Management LLC Makes New $334,000 Investment in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FA. Cat Rock Capital Management LP lifted its position in First Advantage by 10.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Advantage by 10.6% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sunriver Management LLC lifted its position in First Advantage by 26.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in First Advantage by 24.6% during the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 603,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,781,000 after purchasing an additional 119,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in First Advantage by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 406,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,738,000 after purchasing an additional 8,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FA has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on First Advantage in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Advantage has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Advantage news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.48, for a total transaction of $32,508.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other First Advantage news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.48, for a total transaction of $32,508.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 7,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.08, for a total value of $117,882.48. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 688,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,078,589.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,034 shares of company stock valued at $241,439 over the last ninety days. 5.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Advantage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FA traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.25. The stock had a trading volume of 23,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,864. The company has a current ratio of 4.29, a quick ratio of 4.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.14. First Advantage Co. has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $17.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.23.

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