Short Interest in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) Rises By 17.0%

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,090,000 shares, an increase of 17.0% from the January 15th total of 7,770,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RHI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.50 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.92.

Robert Half Stock Performance

Shares of Robert Half stock traded up $1.76 during trading on Monday, hitting $60.12. 1,620,587 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,308,436. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.67. Robert Half has a 52-week low of $57.05 and a 52-week high of $83.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.23.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a return on equity of 17.20% and a net margin of 4.34%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Robert Half will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.89%.

Insider Activity at Robert Half

In related news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of Robert Half stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $76,729.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $915,248.50. This trade represents a 7.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Robert Half by 72.6% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,079,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $569,288,000 after buying an additional 3,398,257 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Robert Half by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,554,276 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $602,867,000 after buying an additional 1,271,237 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at $60,257,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Robert Half by 5,172.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 693,394 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,857,000 after buying an additional 680,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Robert Half by 293.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 831,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,578,000 after buying an additional 619,982 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

Robert Half Company Profile

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.