First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Now Covered by William Blair

William Blair started coverage on shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the stock.

FA has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of First Advantage from $16.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of First Advantage from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Advantage has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $18.00.

First Advantage Stock Performance

First Advantage stock opened at $16.47 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.55. First Advantage has a twelve month low of $12.10 and a twelve month high of $17.49. The company has a quick ratio of 4.39, a current ratio of 4.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of 65.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.21.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $202.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.05 million. First Advantage had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 13.84%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Advantage will post 0.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Advantage

In other news, insider Joseph K. Jaeger sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.95, for a total value of $339,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 696,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,802,251.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 270,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735 shares during the period. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its position in First Advantage by 36.3% during the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 935,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,898,000 after acquiring an additional 248,895 shares during the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in First Advantage by 67.0% during the third quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 490,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,759,000 after acquiring an additional 196,600 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its position in First Advantage by 65.2% during the third quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 761,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,505,000 after acquiring an additional 300,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Advantage by 102,058.8% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 34,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

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.