Business Services Industry
Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: First Advantage, DealerTrack Holdings and ChoicePoint
Business Wire, Feb 22, 2008
CHICAGO -- Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: First Advantage Corporation (Nasdaq: FADV), DealerTrack Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK) and ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE: CPE).
See the latest posts to the Analyst Blog here: http://www.zacks.com/blog/post_info.html?g=6
Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:
Fair Value for First Advantage
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We maintain our Hold rating on shares of First Advantage Corporation (Nasdaq: FADV) following the release of Q4 financial results. We believe the shares of FADV are appropriately valued near current levels. The shares of FADV are currently trading at a P/E multiple of 14x estimated 2008 EPS. We believe that the current multiple is reasonable.
After the close of the market on February 20, 2008, First Advantage announced the fourth quarter results for the fiscal year 2007. The company reported fourth quarter EPS from continuing operations of $1.30 per share. This total includes a $0.99 per share investment gain related to the sale of common stock of DealerTrack Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TRAK). Excluding this gain, earnings from continuing operations were $0.31 per share, versus $0.23 in the year-ago period. The results were $0.07 above our estimate.
We believe the shares of First Advantage Corporation are appropriately valued near current levels. The shares of FADV are currently trading at a P/E multiple of approximately 14x our 2008 EPS estimate. We note that ChoicePoint Inc. (NYSE: CPE), the company's closest publicly traded peer, is currently trading at approximately 18x consensus estimated 2008 EPS.
Given the issues cited above, we feel that FADV should trade at a discount. Our six-month price target of $19 for the shares of FADV is based on a P/E multiple of 15x estimated 2008 EPS.
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