Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for First Advantage (NYSE:FA)

First Advantage (NYSE:FA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by Royal Bank of Canada in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $22.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.05% from the stock’s current price.

FA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.29.

First Advantage Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE FA opened at $18.48 on Thursday. First Advantage has a twelve month low of $14.01 and a twelve month high of $20.79. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 616.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.74 and its 200-day moving average is $18.47.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.01. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%. The business had revenue of $199.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. First Advantage’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the third quarter valued at about $250,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in First Advantage in the second quarter valued at about $209,000. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in First Advantage in the fourth quarter valued at about $257,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of First Advantage in the second quarter worth about $234,000. Institutional investors 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.