HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 144,200 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the November 15th total of 136,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HQI. Barclays PLC lifted its position in HireQuest by 288.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 5,818 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest during the 3rd quarter valued at $147,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of HireQuest by 16.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,229 shares of the company's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,256 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 90,113 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 131,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the last quarter. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barrington Research upped their price objective on HireQuest from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

HireQuest Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ HQI traded down $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $14.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,593. The firm has a market cap of $203.70 million, a P/E ratio of 132.27 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.65. HireQuest has a 52-week low of $11.39 and a 52-week high of $17.31.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. HireQuest's payout ratio is currently 218.18%.

HireQuest Company Profile

HireQuest, Inc provides temporary staffing services in the United States. It offers staffing services, including direct-dispatch, executive search, consultant, unskilled and semi-skilled industrial and construction personnel, clerical and administrative personnel, and permanent placement services, as well as commercial and non-CDL drivers, and skilled personnel in the medical and dental industries.