Barrington Research Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI)

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Barrington Research increased their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for HireQuest in a report issued on Thursday, August 22nd. Barrington Research analyst K. Steinke now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $0.16 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.15. Barrington Research has a "Outperform" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for HireQuest's current full-year earnings is $0.54 per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for HireQuest's Q4 2024 earnings at $0.16 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.59 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $0.78 EPS.

Separately, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of HireQuest in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

HireQuest Stock Performance

Shares of HQI stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $12.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,476. The firm's 50-day moving average is $12.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.79. The company has a market cap of $181.02 million, a P/E ratio of 34.03 and a beta of 1.03. HireQuest has a 1-year low of $11.39 and a 1-year high of $20.17.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.03. HireQuest had a return on equity of 9.23% and a net margin of 14.06%. The business had revenue of $8.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in HireQuest by 0.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 90,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in shares of HireQuest during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,047,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in HireQuest by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 267,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,464,000 after buying an additional 2,490 shares during the period. 12.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at HireQuest

In other news, CEO Richard Hermanns purchased 4,219 shares of HireQuest stock in a transaction on Friday, June 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.08 per share, for a total transaction of $50,965.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,064,788 shares in the company, valued at $37,022,639.04. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 9,950 shares of company stock valued at $122,118. 45.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. HireQuest's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

About HireQuest

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.