Hays (LON:HAS) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Posted by Lindsey Winhoffer on Aug 19th, 2026

Hays plc (LON:HAS – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 70.70 and last traded at GBX 69.83, with a volume of 1641600 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 69.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HAS shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 60 price objective on shares of Hays in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a GBX 33 target price on shares of Hays in a research note on Friday, July 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of GBX 57.20.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on HAS

Hays Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is GBX 48.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 40.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of £1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -105.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77.

Hays declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, June 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase 0 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joe Hurd purchased 5,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.