Lazard Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Hackett Group, Inc. $HCKT

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 124,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in HCKT. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of The Hackett Group by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 2,642,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,868,000 after purchasing an additional 60,956 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Hackett Group by 122.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 807,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,350,000 after buying an additional 445,267 shares in the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its position in The Hackett Group by 4.4% in the first quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 445,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,800,000 after buying an additional 18,747 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in The Hackett Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 429,032 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,422,000 after buying an additional 28,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of The Hackett Group by 207.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 411,992 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,087,000 after buying an additional 277,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HCKT shares. Zacks Research upgraded The Hackett Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered The Hackett Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of The Hackett Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barrington Research dropped their price target on The Hackett Group from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $17.00 price objective on The Hackett Group in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

The Hackett Group Trading Up 5.5%

NASDAQ HCKT opened at $11.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. The Hackett Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $9.15 and a twelve month high of $23.72. The stock has a market cap of $284.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.92.

The Hackett Group (NASDAQ:HCKT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The business services provider reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $68.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.23 million. The Hackett Group had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 26.70%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Hackett Group, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group is a global strategic advisory firm specializing in business transformation, benchmarking and research. Leveraging a proprietary data repository and the Hackett Methodology®, the company helps organizations optimize performance across enterprise functions. Its advisory services span digital transformation, process optimization and operational excellence, enabling clients to identify best practices, streamline workflows and achieve sustainable cost savings.

Through detailed benchmarking studies and industry research, The Hackett Group delivers actionable insights into finance, procurement, human resources, information technology and supply chain management.