Hays (LON:HAS) Trading Up 6.3% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Hays plc (LON:HAS) traded up 6.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as GBX 32.70 and last traded at GBX 31.98. Approximately 7,612,479 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 12,908,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 30.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 28 price target on shares of Hays in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hays currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 71.60.

Hays Stock Up 6.3%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 33.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 40.88. The firm has a market cap of £511.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Hays declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joe Hurd bought 5,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. Also, insider Mark Dearnley purchased 485,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 30 per share, for a total transaction of £145,650. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 491,224 shares of company stock worth $14,765,184. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hays Company Profile