Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $56.21, but opened at $57.45. Kforce shares last traded at $58.10, with a volume of 13,992 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KFRC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kforce from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Sidoti raised Kforce from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kforce presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.75.

Kforce Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $62.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.30.

Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.02. Kforce had a return on equity of 34.89% and a net margin of 3.56%. The firm had revenue of $356.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $356.20 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kforce Inc. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Kforce Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Kforce's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kforce by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,402,035 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $149,238,000 after purchasing an additional 13,706 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in Kforce by 3.3% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 756,788 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $47,020,000 after buying an additional 23,920 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kforce by 0.3% in the second quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 307,103 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $19,080,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kforce by 5.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,492 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,226,000 after buying an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kforce by 24.8% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 75,081 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,665,000 after acquiring an additional 14,925 shares in the last quarter. 92.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kforce Company Profile

Kforce Inc provides professional staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates through two segments, Technology, and Finance and Accounting (FA). The Technology segment provides talent solutions to its clients primarily in the areas of information technology, such as systems/applications architecture and development, data management and analytics, business and artificial intelligence, machine learning, project and program management, and network architecture and security.