Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.42 and last traded at $17.36, with a volume of 3566 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Citigroup increased their price target on Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.20.

Sterling Check Stock Up 3.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -103.88 and a beta of 0.49.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.04). Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 7.73% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. The company had revenue of $200.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Sterling Check Corp. will post 0.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sterling Check news, major shareholder Melanie Laird sold 300,000 shares of Sterling Check stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.18, for a total transaction of $5,154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,749,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,677,715.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sterling Check

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STER. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Sterling Check during the 1st quarter valued at about $18,939,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Sterling Check in the first quarter valued at about $9,648,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sterling Check by 24.5% in the second quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,477,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,673,000 after acquiring an additional 487,600 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 176.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 253,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 161,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. purchased a new stake in shares of Sterling Check in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,449,000. 84.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sterling Check

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.