First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 1,919,062 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 326% from the previous session’s volume of 450,478 shares.The stock last traded at $18.22 and had previously closed at $18.70.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on First Advantage from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on First Advantage from $250.00 to $249.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered First Advantage from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

First Advantage Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.76 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.45.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 3.24%. The firm had revenue of $184.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.24 EPS. First Advantage’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of First Advantage

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP lifted its stake in First Advantage by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter worth approximately $211,000. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new position in First Advantage during the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted 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 worth $252,000 after buying an additional 2,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.