Royal Bank of Canada Begins Coverage on First Advantage (NYSE:FA)

Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.25% from the company’s previous close.

FA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target 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 five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.20.

First Advantage Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FA opened at $17.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 595.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 3.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $19.11 and a 200-day moving average of $17.61. First Advantage has a 52-week low of $13.79 and a 52-week high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its position in First Advantage by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 1,017,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,192,000 after purchasing an additional 214,134 shares in the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in First Advantage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $434,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of First Advantage by 50.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,600,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,716 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 418,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,309,000 after buying an additional 5,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Advantage in the 3rd quarter valued at about $250,000. 94.91% of the stock is 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.