National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

NRC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings raised National Research from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered National Research from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on National Research from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, National Research presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

National Research Price Performance

NASDAQ NRC opened at $20.19 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.13. The company has a market cap of $459.32 million, a PE ratio of 80.76 and a beta of 0.25. National Research has a 52 week low of $11.01 and a 52 week high of $23.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.81.

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.46. National Research had a net margin of 4.18% and a return on equity of 164.26%. The firm had revenue of $35.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.90 million. Research analysts predict that National Research will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

National Research Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. National Research’s payout ratio is currently 256.00%.

Institutional Trading of National Research

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of National Research during the 1st quarter valued at $180,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of National Research in the first quarter worth $226,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Research in the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in National Research during the fourth quarter valued at $296,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC bought a new stake in National Research during the second quarter valued at $431,000. 47.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

National Research Company Profile

National Research Corporation, formerly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol NRC and known as NRC Health, provides market research, analytics and performance-improvement services to healthcare organizations. Its solutions are designed to help hospitals, health systems and other providers understand the experiences and expectations of patients, employees, physicians and communities.

The company’s offerings have included patient-experience measurement, employee and physician engagement surveys, reputation and brand research, community health assessments, data analytics and advisory services.