William Blair Forecasts Reduced Earnings for First Advantage

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) – Equities research analysts at William Blair decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of First Advantage in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, December 11th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the company will earn $0.74 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $0.77. William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for First Advantage’s current full-year earnings is $0.75 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for First Advantage’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.19 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.27 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.65 EPS.

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

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on FA. Wolfe Research cut First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on First Advantage in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

First Advantage Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FA opened at $19.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 644.67 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.96 and a 200-day moving average of $18.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 3.85. First Advantage has a fifty-two week low of $14.01 and a fifty-two week high of $20.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 49.7% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in First Advantage by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 258,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in First Advantage by 10.2% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in First Advantage by 8.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.