First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Stock Rating Lowered by Royal Bank of Canada

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) was downgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $20.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.25% from the stock’s current price.

FA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $15.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of First Advantage in a report on Thursday, April 10th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on First Advantage from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.40.

First Advantage Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FA opened at $17.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a current ratio of 3.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.06 and its 200-day moving average is $16.98. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 588.67 and a beta of 1.20. First Advantage has a 52-week low of $12.32 and a 52-week high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 109.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that First Advantage will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in First Advantage by 49.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,350,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,399,000 after buying an additional 2,750,166 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Advantage by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,425,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409,233 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,223,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,574,000 after purchasing an additional 286,456 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of First Advantage by 246.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 5,227,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,903,000 after purchasing an additional 3,718,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in First Advantage by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,485,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,011,000 after purchasing an additional 50,469 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.