HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by analysts at Barrington Research in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Barrington Research’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.31% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HQI. Wall Street Zen upgraded HireQuest to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HireQuest from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $15.00 price objective 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

HireQuest Price Performance

Shares of HQI traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $11.27. 10,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,694. The company has a market capitalization of $158.96 million, a PE ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.51. HireQuest has a one year low of $7.38 and a one year high of $15.75.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last announced its 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 return on equity of 14.48% and a net margin of 21.92%.The business had revenue of $8.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.11 million. Sell-side analysts expect that HireQuest will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

HireQuest declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 17th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 18.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HireQuest

In related news, CEO Richard Hermanns acquired 9,704 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.28 per share, for a total transaction of $99,757.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 2,951,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,339,189.24. The trade was a 0.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 28,980 shares of company stock valued at $276,165. Company insiders own 43.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HQI. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter worth $129,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in HireQuest by 67.8% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 5,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of HireQuest by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,246 shares in the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About HireQuest

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.