Richard Hermanns Buys 18,854 Shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Stock

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) CEO Richard Hermanns purchased 18,854 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.13 per share, for a total transaction of $172,137.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,941,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,852,763.41. This represents a 0.65% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Richard Hermanns also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 24th, Richard Hermanns acquired 422 shares of HireQuest stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.12 per share, with a total value of $4,270.64.

HireQuest Price Performance

NASDAQ:HQI opened at $10.30 on Wednesday. HireQuest, Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.38 and a 1-year high of $15.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.80 and a 200 day moving average of $9.40. The firm has a market cap of $145.23 million, a PE ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 1.13.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.10. HireQuest had a net margin of 21.92% and a return on equity of 14.48%. The business had revenue of $8.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.11 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 18.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GWN Securities Inc. grew its position in HireQuest by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 16,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of HireQuest by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,246 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HireQuest in the 1st quarter worth $317,000. 12.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HQI. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of HireQuest in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of HireQuest in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $15.00 target price on shares of HireQuest in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc is a publicly traded holding company that provides equipment rental and workforce solutions across North America through two primary operating subsidiaries. Its Coast Equipment Rentals division offers a broad range of support equipment—such as pumps, trench safety systems, power and HVAC units, air compressors, light towers and generators—to the construction, industrial, municipal and environmental markets. Coast Equipment Rentals operates more than 135 branch locations in 36 U.S.