Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $17.42 and last traded at $17.36, with a volume of 3566 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Citigroup lifted their price target on Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.20.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $200.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.81 million. Sterling Check had a negative net margin of 2.07% and a positive return on equity of 7.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Sterling Check Corp. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Melanie Laird sold 22,278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total transaction of $377,834.88. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,049,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,400,808.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sterling Check

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sterling Check by 7,540.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Sterling Check by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 1,372 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Sterling Check in the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. Blackstone Inc. purchased a new position in Sterling Check during the 1st quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sterling Check in the 1st quarter worth $320,000. 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.