First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Hits New 52-Week High at $19.55

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.55 and last traded at $19.41, with a volume of 11709 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Advantage presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.00.

First Advantage Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 4.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.91, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.16.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. The firm had revenue of $184.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.66 million. First Advantage had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.24 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James Lindsey Clark sold 2,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.48, for a total value of $32,508.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 42,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $664,509.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FA. Boston Partners raised its stake in First Advantage by 155.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 in the second quarter valued at about $12,906,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake 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. Cat Rock Capital Management LP raised its stake in First Advantage by 10.0% in 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 worth $44,090,000 after acquiring an additional 255,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

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.