Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Has $13.89 Million Position in First Advantage Co. $FA

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust increased its stake in First Advantage Co. (NYSE:FA) by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 835,917 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 121,770 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust’s holdings in First Advantage were worth $13,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 35,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 6.5% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Advantage during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 1,208.3% during the second quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Advantage by 2.3% during the first quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 199,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,814,000 after buying an additional 4,404 shares during the last quarter. 94.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at First Advantage

In related news, President Joelle M. Smith sold 9,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total value of $155,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 42,727 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,813.90. This represents a 18.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered First Advantage from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of First Advantage in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Advantage currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

First Advantage Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FA opened at $13.15 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 438.33 and a beta of 1.21. First Advantage Co. has a one year low of $12.32 and a one year high of $20.79.

First Advantage (NYSE:FA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. First Advantage had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 0.65%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 111.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. First Advantage has set its FY 2025 guidance at 0.860-1.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that First Advantage Co. will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

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.