Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Price Target Raised to $17.50 at Citigroup

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $16.20 to $17.50 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Sterling Check Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:STER opened at $16.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -166.70 and a beta of 0.48. Sterling Check has a 1-year low of $10.00 and a 1-year high of $17.05. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $200.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.81 million. Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 7.73% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sterling Check will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Lou Paglia sold 47,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.15, for a total value of $712,050.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 618,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,367,714.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sterling Check

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Sterling Check by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Sterling Check by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 1,940 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Sterling Check by 7,540.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Sterling Check by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 56,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. bought a new position in Sterling Check in the 1st quarter valued at about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.34% of the company’s stock.

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.