HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of HireQuest from $15.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HireQuest from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Barrington Research set a $19.00 target price on shares of HireQuest in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.00.

HireQuest Trading Up 0.9%

HireQuest stock opened at $16.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.30 and a 200 day moving average of $13.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86 and a beta of 1.16. HireQuest has a 12-month low of $7.38 and a 12-month high of $20.84.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $8.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 million. HireQuest had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 16.35%. On average, analysts predict that HireQuest will post 0.80 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HireQuest

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in HireQuest in the second quarter worth about $3,381,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,169,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter valued at approximately $157,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc (NASDAQ: HQI) is a franchisor of staffing and workforce-solutions businesses. Through its network of independently owned and operated offices, the company supports the placement of temporary and permanent employees across a range of industries, including construction, light industrial, manufacturing, hospitality, logistics, office services and healthcare.

HireQuest’s brands include HireQuest, HireQuest Direct and Snelling, among others. Its staffing offices typically recruit, screen and place workers with client companies, while providing services such as payroll administration, workforce coordination and other employment-related support.