HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Receives Outperform Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $13.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of HireQuest from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson set a $15.00 target price on HireQuest in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised HireQuest to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

HireQuest Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of HQI opened at $11.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.53. HireQuest has a twelve month low of $7.38 and a twelve month high of $15.75.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $8.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.11 million. On average, analysts predict that HireQuest will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 18.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio is 48.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard Hermanns bought 9,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.28 per share, with a total value of $99,757.12. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 2,951,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,339,189.24. This trade represents a 0.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders acquired 28,980 shares of company stock valued at $276,165 in the last quarter. 43.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HireQuest

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest during the 2nd quarter worth about $129,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in HireQuest by 67.8% in 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in HireQuest by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 12,246 shares during the period. 12.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.