Royal Bank of Canada Initiates Coverage on First Advantage (NYSE:FA)

Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial cut their price target on First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Advantage currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.20.

First Advantage Trading Down 2.0 %

FA traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.50. 1,254,771 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,289. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. First Advantage has a one year low of $13.79 and a one year high of $20.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 583.33 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Advantage by 8.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,131,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,314,000 after buying an additional 254,219 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 496,898 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the 3rd quarter worth about $676,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 27,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of First Advantage by 16.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.