Hays (LON:HAS) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Hays plc (LON:HAS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from GBX 60 to GBX 85. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Hays traded as high as GBX 74.30 and last traded at GBX 72.73, with a volume of 4973997 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at GBX 67.14.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 33 price target on shares of Hays in a report on Friday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and issued a GBX 28 price objective on shares of Hays in a report on Friday, August 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of GBX 62.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joe Hurd acquired 5,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hays Trading Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.68, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 51.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 41.48. The stock has a market cap of £1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -113.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77.

Hays (LON:HAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 20th. The company reported GBX (3.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Hays had a negative return on equity of 13.31% and a negative net margin of 0.91%. Equities research analysts expect that Hays plc will post 4.0966184 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hays declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, June 1st that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hays Company Profile