Hays (LON:HAS) Trading Down 6.6% – What’s Next?

Hays plc (LON:HAS) shares were down 6.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as GBX 30.84 and last traded at GBX 31.17. Approximately 7,877,400 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 11,625,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 33.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HAS shares. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 28 price target on shares of Hays in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 71.60.

Hays Stock Down 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average is GBX 33.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 45.40. The firm has a market capitalization of £476.55 million, a P/E ratio of -45.16, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.79.

Hays (LON:HAS) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The company reported GBX 0.46 earnings per share for the quarter. Hays had a negative net margin of 0.16% and a negative return on equity of 2.24%. Research analysts predict that Hays plc will post 4.0966184 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hays

In other news, insider Helen Cunningham bought 6,237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 32 per share, with a total value of £1,995.84. Also, insider Michael Findlay bought 25,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 39 per share, with a total value of £9,945. Over the last three months, insiders bought 36,789 shares of company stock valued at $1,390,748. 0.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hays Company Profile