HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

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

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

HireQuest Price Performance

HQI opened at $16.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $224.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39 and a beta of 1.16. HireQuest has a twelve month low of $7.38 and a twelve month high of $20.84. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.20.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. HireQuest had a net margin of 27.06% and a return on equity of 16.35%. The firm had revenue of $8.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HireQuest will post 0.80 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of HireQuest during the second quarter worth approximately $68,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the 2nd quarter valued at $126,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of HireQuest in the 2nd quarter valued at $157,000. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HireQuest during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HireQuest during the 2nd quarter valued at $315,000. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.