HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Shares Down 1.3% - Should You Sell?

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $13.80 and last traded at $13.83. 11,554 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 13,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barrington Research increased their price target on HireQuest from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of HireQuest in a report on Friday, August 9th.

HireQuest Trading Down 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $192.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.14.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.40 million. HireQuest had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 14.27%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. HireQuest's payout ratio is currently 63.16%.

Institutional Trading of HireQuest

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in HireQuest stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 267,461 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,490 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 1.91% of HireQuest worth $3,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.00% of the company's stock.

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.