Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on HCSG. Zacks Research downgraded Healthcare Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Macquarie restated a “buy” rating on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.40.

Healthcare Services Group Stock Performance

HCSG stock opened at $18.06 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.74. Healthcare Services Group has a 52-week low of $9.13 and a 52-week high of $20.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.45 and a beta of 0.75.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $464.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $460.36 million. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 2.20%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCSG. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Healthcare Services Group by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,592 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,548 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 161.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 965,843 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,736,000 after buying an additional 74,476 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 13.3% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 28,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Healthcare Services Group by 54.7% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 181,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 64,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

Healthcare Services Group Company Profile

Healthcare Services Group, Inc provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary.