Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.6667.

Several analysts recently issued reports on KFRC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Kforce from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Kforce from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Kforce from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kforce from $34.50 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Kforce from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

Institutional Trading of Kforce

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Kforce by 297.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 63,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after buying an additional 47,298 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kforce by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. New South Capital Management Inc. now owns 709,550 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,272,000 after buying an additional 108,507 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kforce by 391.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 382,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,466,000 after buying an additional 304,690 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in shares of Kforce by 183.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 38,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 24,631 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kforce by 93.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 827,046 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $24,795,000 after buying an additional 398,471 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Kforce

Here are the key news stories impacting Kforce this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat consensus — EPS $0.46 vs. $0.40 estimate — and management issued Q2 EPS guidance of $0.670–$0.750, signaling stronger near‑term profitability expectations. This beat + guidance combination is the primary bullish catalyst behind earlier upside in the shares. Business Wire: Kforce Reports First Quarter 2026
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/target lift: Robert W. Baird raised its price target to $42 and put an “Outperform” rating on KFRC, implying meaningful upside versus current levels and likely supporting buy‑side interest. Benzinga: Baird Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Kforce announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 (annualized yield ~5.0%), which can attract income‑focused investors and provide a floor under the shares. (Record/ex‑dividend dates disclosed.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Extensive analyst and media coverage — multiple earnings call transcripts and writeups are circulating (InsiderMonkey, Yahoo/Seeking Alpha, Zacks), increasing transparency and short‑term volatility but not necessarily changing fundamentals. InsiderMonkey: Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst positioning: some firms (e.g., William Blair) reiterate Outperform/Buy, while others maintain lower targets (example: price target maintained at $32 by William Blair/Trevor Romeo per TipRanks entry), producing divergent signals for investors. TipRanks: Rating Reiterated
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue is essentially flat year‑over‑year ($330.4M, up 0.1%) and some third‑party summaries note revenue slightly below certain consensus tallies; net income showed modest weakness versus last year — these top‑line/margin nuances are limiting enthusiasm and may weigh on the stock. QuiverQuant: Q1 Financial Snapshot
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional activity shows notable portfolio adjustments (large trims by several firms), which can add selling pressure or reduce conviction among larger holders. This, combined with mixed revenue trends, helps explain the stock’s downward move today. QuiverQuant: Institutional Holdings

Kforce Price Performance

Shares of KFRC traded up $11.86 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.87. 428,617 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,723. Kforce has a 1-year low of $24.49 and a 1-year high of $47.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.50 and a 200-day moving average of $30.03. The stock has a market cap of $799.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.49.

Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The business services provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.06. Kforce had a net margin of 3.59% and a return on equity of 30.34%. The company had revenue of $330.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $328.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Kforce’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kforce has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.670-0.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Kforce will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Kforce’s dividend payout ratio is 81.22%.

About Kforce

Kforce Inc is a professional staffing services firm headquartered in Tampa, Florida, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol KFRC. The company specializes in connecting organizations with skilled talent in technology, finance and accounting, and related business functions. Through a nationwide network of offices, Kforce partners with clients across industries to deliver both flexible contract staffing and direct hire placement solutions.

Kforce’s core offerings include temporary staffing, permanent placement, and project-based consulting engagements.