Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $17.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

HCSG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Healthcare Services Group from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Healthcare Services Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:HCSG opened at $10.74 on Thursday. Healthcare Services Group has a 1-year low of $8.94 and a 1-year high of $13.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.86. The company has a market capitalization of $788.10 million, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 0.52.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $428.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.95 million. Healthcare Services Group had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 12.58%. Healthcare Services Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Healthcare Services Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HCSG. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Healthcare Services Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,765,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Healthcare Services Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,629,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $89,488,000 after purchasing an additional 167,779 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Healthcare Services Group by 50.7% in the second quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,226,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,979,000 after purchasing an additional 412,704 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Healthcare Services Group by 12.2% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,318,045 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,983,000 after acquiring an additional 142,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Healthcare Services Group by 9.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,057,202 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,766,000 after acquiring an additional 181,231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.97% of the company’s stock.

Healthcare Services Group Company Profile

Healthcare Services Group, Inc provides management, administrative, and operating services to the housekeeping, laundry, linen, facility maintenance, and dietary service departments of nursing homes, retirement complexes, rehabilitation centers, and hospitals in the United States. It operates through two segments, Housekeeping and Dietary.