Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Healthcare Services Group, Inc. $HCSG

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 31,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $579,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group during the third quarter worth $56,527,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 80.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,981,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,354,000 after buying an additional 882,213 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 1,116.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 448,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,746,000 after buying an additional 411,908 shares during the last quarter. Towle & Co. acquired a new stake in Healthcare Services Group during the fourth quarter worth about $7,396,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Healthcare Services Group during the second quarter worth about $4,653,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCSG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Healthcare Services Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Healthcare Services Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Healthcare Services Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Healthcare Services Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.00.

Healthcare Services Group Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ HCSG opened at $24.39 on Wednesday. Healthcare Services Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.66 and a 12-month high of $25.75. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.51.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.15. Healthcare Services Group had a return on equity of 17.81% and a net margin of 3.67%.The firm had revenue of $462.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Healthcare Services Group, Inc. will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Healthcare Services Group

Healthcare Services Group, Inc (NASDAQ: HCSG) is a leading provider of support services to healthcare facilities across the United States. The company specializes in environmental services, including housekeeping and sanitation, as well as linen and laundry management. In addition, Healthcare Services Group offers dietary and nutrition services, catering to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities and other long-term care providers.

Founded as a family-owned business in the late 1970s, the company completed its initial public offering in 1997.