HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barrington Research set a $19.00 target price on shares of HireQuest in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HireQuest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of HireQuest from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HireQuest presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

HireQuest Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HQI opened at $16.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.40. The company has a market capitalization of $232.27 million, a PE ratio of 29.32 and a beta of 1.26. HireQuest has a 1-year low of $7.38 and a 1-year high of $20.84.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. HireQuest had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The company had revenue of $8.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HireQuest will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. HireQuest’s payout ratio is currently 42.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HQI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in HireQuest in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,381,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in HireQuest in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,169,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in HireQuest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $315,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HireQuest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in HireQuest during the 2nd quarter valued at about $157,000. 12.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc (NASDAQ: HQI) is a franchisor of staffing and workforce-solutions businesses. Through its network of independently owned and operated offices, the company supports the placement of temporary and permanent employees across a range of industries, including construction, light industrial, manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, office services and healthcare.

HireQuest’s brands include HireQuest, HireQuest Direct and Snelling, among others. Its staffing offices typically recruit, screen and place workers with client companies, while providing services such as payroll administration, workforce coordination and other employment-related support.