First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.33.

FA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of First Advantage from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised First Advantage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of First Advantage from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on First Advantage from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Advantage from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 8,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in First Advantage by 37.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 145,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after buying an additional 39,297 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in First Advantage by 2.9% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 208,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,761,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in First Advantage during the second quarter worth approximately $3,503,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new stake in First Advantage during the 2nd quarter worth $63,214,000. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Advantage Stock Down 5.1%

NYSE FA opened at $18.61 on Tuesday. First Advantage has a one year low of $8.82 and a one year high of $25.15. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 620.33 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.99.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. First Advantage has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.23-1.290 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Advantage will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First Advantage

First Advantage Corporation is a global provider of employment background screening and workforce-management solutions. The company helps employers make informed hiring and onboarding decisions through services such as criminal-record searches, employment and education verification, identity verification, drug and health screening, motor vehicle record checks, and immigration and employment eligibility services.

Its technology platform is designed to support the hiring lifecycle, from recruiting and screening to onboarding, workforce monitoring, and offboarding.