Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) Short Interest Update

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on RHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial raised 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 report on Friday, December 13th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Robert Half from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $71.50 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.92.

Robert Half Price Performance

Robert Half stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $60.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 849,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,246,759. The stock has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.52. Robert Half has a 12 month low of $57.05 and a 12 month high of $83.25.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share 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 research analysts expect that Robert Half will post 2.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Robert Half's previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. Robert Half's payout ratio is currently 86.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Robert Half

In other Robert Half news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $76,729.20. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Robert Half

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter valued at about $784,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Vivaldi Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Robert Half during the fourth quarter valued at about $15,636,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Robert Half by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 32,386 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,282,000 after buying an additional 5,203 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

About Robert Half

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.