Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Sterling Check Corp. (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Sterling Check from $16.20 to $17.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sterling Check presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $16.20.

Sterling Check Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -100.88 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $16.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.70.

Sterling Check (NASDAQ:STER - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Sterling Check had a positive return on equity of 7.73% and a negative net margin of 2.07%. The business had revenue of $200.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sterling Check Corp. will post 0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sterling Check

In related news, major shareholder Melanie Laird sold 22,278 shares of Sterling Check stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.96, for a total value of $377,834.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,049,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $187,400,808.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sterling Check

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sterling Check during the third quarter valued at $218,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Sterling Check by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 14,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sterling Check by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,628,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,103,000 after purchasing an additional 450,833 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Sterling Check by 176.2% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 253,397 shares of the company's stock worth $3,750,000 after buying an additional 161,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in Sterling Check by 58.9% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 226,940 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,359,000 after buying an additional 84,149 shares during the period. 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.