HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

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

HireQuest Stock Up 6.2%

Shares of NASDAQ HQI opened at $17.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $238.80 million, a PE ratio of 30.14 and a beta of 1.16. HireQuest has a 12-month low of $7.38 and a 12-month high of $20.84. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.22.

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

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. HireQuest’s payout ratio is presently 42.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HireQuest

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HireQuest during the 2nd quarter worth $315,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $126,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $1,169,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter valued at about $3,381,000. Institutional investors own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

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.