Hays (LON:HAS) Shares Up 19.6% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Hays plc (LON:HAS) shot up 19.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as GBX 43.10 and last traded at GBX 42.90. Approximately 11,017,554 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 13,380,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 35.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HAS. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a GBX 33 price target on shares of Hays in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hays presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 64.20.

Hays Stock Up 19.6%

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 33.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 39.06. The company has a market cap of £673.52 million, a P/E ratio of -65.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Hays declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 1st that permits the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Hays news, insider Mark Dearnley bought 485,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 30 per share, for a total transaction of £145,650. Also, insider Joe Hurd purchased 5,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 35 per share, for a total transaction of £1,985.20. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 491,224 shares of company stock valued at $14,765,184. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hays Company Profile