NewEdge Wealth LLC Purchases New Stake in HireQuest, Inc. $HQI

NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 93,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,169,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 5,685 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in HireQuest by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after buying an additional 12,246 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of HireQuest by 158.0% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 6,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of HireQuest in the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ HQI opened at $17.14 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.13. HireQuest, Inc. has a 52-week low of $7.38 and a 52-week high of $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.25 million, a P/E ratio of 30.07 and a beta of 1.11.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 million. HireQuest had a return on equity of 16.35% and a net margin of 27.06%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HQI has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised HireQuest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of HireQuest from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $19.00 price objective on shares of HireQuest in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HireQuest presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

HireQuest 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.