First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

Several analysts recently weighed in on FA shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Advantage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Thursday, August 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares of First Advantage stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total value of $155,430.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 42,727 shares in the company, valued at $670,813.90. This trade represents a 18.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 1,208.3% during the 2nd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the 1st quarter worth about $63,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 748.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Advantage Trading Down 1.7%

First Advantage stock opened at $14.26 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $15.90 and its 200-day moving average is $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. First Advantage has a 1 year low of $12.32 and a 1 year high of $20.79. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 475.33 and a beta of 1.21.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business’s revenue was up 111.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Advantage will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.