First Advantage (NYSE:FA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. First Advantage had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The business’s revenue was up 105.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. First Advantage updated its FY 2025 guidance to 0.980-1.020 EPS.

First Advantage Stock Down 3.6%

Shares of First Advantage stock traded down $0.49 on Friday, reaching $13.31. 1,064,607 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,871. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 3.85. First Advantage has a 1-year low of $12.25 and a 1-year high of $20.79. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 443.67 and a beta of 1.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Advantage news, President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total value of $155,430.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 42,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,813.90. This represents a 18.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Advantage

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of First Advantage by 724.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,256,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,311,000 after buying an additional 4,618,946 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Advantage during the second quarter worth about $7,107,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of First Advantage by 39.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 775,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,876,000 after purchasing an additional 218,698 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP now owns 1,704,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,304,000 after purchasing an additional 141,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in shares of First Advantage in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on FA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on First Advantage from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of First Advantage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.25.

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.