First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Now Covered by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock.

FA has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wolfe Research downgraded First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.20.

First Advantage Stock Performance

NYSE FA opened at $17.32 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 577.33 and a beta of 1.18. First Advantage has a fifty-two week low of $13.88 and a fifty-two week high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last announced 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. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm had revenue of $199.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Advantage will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Advantage by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,131,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,314,000 after buying an additional 254,219 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in First Advantage by 9.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,777,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,711,000 after purchasing an additional 496,898 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in First Advantage during the 3rd quarter worth $676,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in First Advantage by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 126,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,027,000 after purchasing an additional 27,237 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in First Advantage by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

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.