HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on HQI. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of HireQuest from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded HireQuest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $19.00 target price on HireQuest in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HireQuest currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.00.

HireQuest Stock Performance

Shares of HQI opened at $16.14 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.52. HireQuest has a 1 year low of $7.38 and a 1 year high of $19.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.35 million, a PE ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 1.14.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $8.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 million. HireQuest had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 16.35%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HireQuest will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HQI. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HireQuest by 4.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 5,685 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in HireQuest by 67.8% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HireQuest by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after acquiring an additional 12,246 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of HireQuest by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 6,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest in the 4th quarter valued at about $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc is a publicly traded holding company that provides equipment rental and workforce solutions across North America through two primary operating subsidiaries. Its Coast Equipment Rentals division offers a broad range of support equipment—such as pumps, trench safety systems, power and HVAC units, air compressors, light towers and generators—to the construction, industrial, municipal and environmental markets. Coast Equipment Rentals operates more than 135 branch locations in 36 U.S.