First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Stock Dropped to “Hold” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of First Advantage (NYSE:FA) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday,Zacks reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on First Advantage from $20.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Advantage from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded First Advantage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of First Advantage from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.33.

First Advantage Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:FA opened at $18.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 612.33 and a beta of 1.12. First Advantage has a 1 year low of $8.82 and a 1 year high of $25.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.36.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.06. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. First Advantage has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.23-1.290 EPS. Analysts expect that First Advantage will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in First Advantage in the 2nd quarter valued at $217,748,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of First Advantage during the 2nd quarter worth about $63,214,000. Sunriver Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Sunriver Management LLC now owns 3,032,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,665,000 after purchasing an additional 371,425 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter valued at about $14,533,000. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its position in shares of First Advantage by 22.8% during the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 728,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,565,000 after buying an additional 135,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

First Advantage Company Profile

First Advantage Corporation (NYSE: FA) is a global provider of employment background screening and workforce-management solutions. The company helps employers make informed hiring and onboarding decisions through services that may include criminal-record searches, identity verification, employment and education verification, professional-license checks, drug and health screening, and ongoing workforce monitoring.

Its technology platform is designed to support the hiring and compliance processes of organizations of varying sizes and across multiple industries.