Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) Receives $16.86 Average Target Price from Analysts

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.86.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on STER. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Sterling Check from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Friday, September 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Adrian M. Jones sold 1,145,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $13,436,550.78. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,099,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $587,665,868.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Steven L. Barnett sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.20, for a total value of $132,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 270,535 shares in the company, valued at $3,571,062. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Adrian M. Jones sold 1,145,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $13,436,550.78. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,099,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,665,868.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,155,486 shares of company stock valued at $119,138,551 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sterling Check

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Sterling Check during the second quarter valued at $295,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Sterling Check by 124.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 40,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 22,480 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in Sterling Check by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 10,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,959,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,024,000 after purchasing an additional 728,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Sterling Check by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. 80.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sterling Check Price Performance

NASDAQ STER opened at $13.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Sterling Check has a 1-year low of $10.57 and a 1-year high of $23.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 670.50 and a beta of 0.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.25.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. Sterling Check had a return on equity of 10.15% and a net margin of 0.34%. The business had revenue of $190.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.06 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Sterling Check will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Sterling Check Company Profile

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks.