First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Coverage Initiated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on FA. Wolfe Research downgraded 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 report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.20.

First Advantage Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of FA stock opened at $17.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 583.33 and a beta of 1.18. First Advantage has a 1 year low of $13.79 and a 1 year high of $20.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 4.31.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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%. First Advantage’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of First Advantage by 49.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in First Advantage in the third quarter valued at $250,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter worth about $209,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in First Advantage in the second quarter valued at $234,000. 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.