Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Quest Resource (NASDAQ:QRHC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $64.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.55 million. Quest Resource had a negative return on equity of 13.51% and a negative net margin of 7.07%.

Here are the key takeaways from Quest Resource’s conference call:

• Revenue returned to growth: Second-quarter revenue increased 8% year over year to $64.1 million and 4% sequentially, driven by stabilizing industrial volumes, new customer wins, and wallet-share expansions.
• Portfolio diversification is gaining traction: Quest highlighted growth across food service, retail, hospitality, and automotive markets, including nine meaningful wallet-share wins over the past year and four additional wins in the second quarter.
• Operational improvements strengthened cash generation: SG&A declined 11% year over year despite higher revenue, operating cash flow reached $4.5 million, and improved billing, collections, and vendor processes helped reduce working-capital days.
• Debt reduction continued: Quest reduced net notes payable by $4.6 million year to date, including a $2 million voluntary early payment during the quarter, and expects lower interest expense to support further paydown.
• Margins remain under pressure: Gross margin fell to 16.3% from 18.5% a year earlier, primarily because of pressure from select industrial customers; management also cautioned that macroeconomic conditions and elongated sales cycles could remain uneven.

Quest Resource Trading Up 18.1%

NASDAQ:QRHC traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1.50. The company had a trading volume of 132,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. Quest Resource has a fifty-two week low of $0.81 and a fifty-two week high of $2.41. The firm has a market cap of $31.61 million, a P/E ratio of -1.83 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Quest Resource from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quest Resource from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Resource has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $2.25.

Institutional Trading of Quest Resource

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of QRHC. Veradace Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Resource during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,336,000. Mink Brook Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Resource in the second quarter worth $405,000. Rothschild Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Resource during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Resource during the second quarter worth $125,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Resource by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 51,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 9,647 shares during the period. 48.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Quest Resource

Quest Resource Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides solutions for the reuse, recycling, and disposal of various waste streams and recyclables in the United States. The company provides disposal and recycling services for motor oil and automotive lubricants, oil filters, scrap tires, oily water, goods destruction, food waste, meat renderings, cooking oil and grease trap waste, plastics, cardboard, metal, glass, mixed paper, construction debris, as well as a large variety of regulated and non-regulated solid, liquid, and gas wastes.