Hays (LON:HAS) Trading Up 6.3% – Here’s What Happened

Hays plc (LON:HAS)’s share price traded up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 32.70 and last traded at GBX 31.98. 7,612,479 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 12,908,801 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 30.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hays from GBX 90 to GBX 75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a GBX 28 target price on shares of Hays in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 71.60.

Hays Stock Up 4.0%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is GBX 33.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 40.57. The company has a market cap of £537.27 million, a P/E ratio of -50.91, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.55, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hays news, insider Joe Hurd purchased 5,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 35 per share, with a total value of £1,985.20. Also, insider Mark Dearnley acquired 485,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 30 per share, for a total transaction of £145,650. Insiders purchased a total of 491,224 shares of company stock worth $14,765,184 over the last quarter. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hays Company Profile