HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Stock Lifted to Strong-Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on HQI. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of HireQuest from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barrington Research set a $19.00 price target on shares of HireQuest in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of HireQuest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

HireQuest Price Performance

Shares of HireQuest stock opened at $16.18 on Friday. HireQuest has a 1-year low of $7.38 and a 1-year high of $20.84. The company has a market capitalization of $224.90 million, a PE ratio of 28.39 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average of $17.29 and a 200-day moving average of $14.18.

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

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.5%. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HQI. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HireQuest in the 2nd quarter worth $315,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $126,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $1,169,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in HireQuest during the second quarter worth about $3,381,000. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About HireQuest

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.