Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.30.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $16.50 price objective (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair downgraded Sterling Check from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sterling Check in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Sterling Check Stock Up 1.4 %

STER opened at $14.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Sterling Check has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $16.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.64.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $169.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.07 million. Sterling Check had a negative net margin of 0.02% and a positive return on equity of 9.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Sterling Check will post 0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sterling Check by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Sterling Check by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 30,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Sterling Check by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 18,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Sterling Check by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in Sterling Check by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 122,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

Sterling Check Company Profile

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.