Morgan Stanley Lowers Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Price Target to $14.00

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 28.44% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded Sterling Check from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Friday, September 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Sterling Check from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th.

Sterling Check Price Performance

NASDAQ:STER opened at $10.90 on Thursday. Sterling Check has a 52 week low of $10.00 and a 52 week high of $16.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -272.50 and a beta of 0.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.57.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 9.47% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. The firm had revenue of $190.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $193.06 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sterling Check will post 0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sterling Check

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sterling Check by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Sterling Check by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 30,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Sterling Check by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 122,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sterling Check by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 174,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Sterling Check by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 8,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares in the last quarter. 80.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sterling Check

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.