Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research cut Kelly Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Kelly Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barrington Research cut their price objective on shares of Kelly Services from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

Kelly Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:KELYA opened at $9.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $348.10 million, a PE ratio of -1.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.79. Kelly Services has a 1-year low of $7.98 and a 1-year high of $14.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.29). Kelly Services had a negative net margin of 5.98% and a positive return on equity of 4.05%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Kelly Services will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kelly Services

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in shares of Kelly Services during the fourth quarter worth about $519,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Kelly Services by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 38,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 7,217 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kelly Services by 74.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 10,038 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kelly Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $923,000. Finally, Numerai GP LLC increased its position in Kelly Services by 1,133.6% in the 4th quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 167,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 153,846 shares during the period. 76.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Kelly Services

Here are the key news stories impacting Kelly Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director James Christopher Hunt bought 1,000 shares at about $9.58, raising his stake ~20% to 5,976 shares — a standard bullish signal that insiders see value at current levels. Form 4 filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble Financial published detailed quarter-by-quarter EPS assumptions (Q2: $0.30, Q3: $0.24, Q4: $0.71) and a FY2027 projection of $2.07 — useful inputs for modeling but not uniformly bullish. Noble estimates (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble Financial also commented on Kelly’s recent Q1 results and outlook in a note; read-throughs provide context for the estimate revisions. Noble Financial comments
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for February appears inconsistent/erroneous (zeros/NaN); no clear signal from short interest at present. Short interest note
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Kelly from “hold” to “strong sell,” a headline-negative that can pressure sentiment and trading flows. Zacks downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Noble Financial cut FY2026 EPS from $1.83 to $1.36 — the downward revision (and Noble’s lower-than-consensus FY2026/FY2027 path) reinforces concerns about near-term profitability after Kelly’s recent Q1 miss (EPS $0.16 vs. $0.45 estimate, revenue $1.05B vs. $1.03B). Estimate cut (MarketBeat)

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc is a global workforce solutions provider specializing in talent acquisition and staffing services across a wide range of industries. The company offers temporary staffing, permanent placement, outsourcing solutions, and consulting services to help organizations address their workforce needs. Its service offerings are designed to support clients in areas such as administrative support, information technology, engineering, science, education, healthcare, and industrial sectors.

Founded in 1946 by William Russell Kelly, Kelly Services has grown from a small local staffing firm into an international organization.