Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Kelly Services in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Kelly Services Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ KELYA opened at $12.16 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.77. Kelly Services has a 12 month low of $10.80 and a 12 month high of $23.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $424.24 million, a P/E ratio of -202.63, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.96.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The business services provider reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Kelly Services had a negative net margin of 0.01% and a positive return on equity of 6.56%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kelly Services will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kelly Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Kelly Services’s payout ratio is -50.00%.

Institutional Trading of Kelly Services

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Kelly Services by 238.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 44,811 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Kelly Services by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 37,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Kelly Services by 109.1% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its stake in Kelly Services by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 97,482 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 21,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Kelly Services by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 206,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,875,000 after purchasing an additional 9,984 shares during the last quarter. 76.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kelly Services

Kelly Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides workforce solutions to various industries. The company operates through five segments: Professional & Industrial; Science, Engineering & Technology; Education; Outsourcing & Consulting; and International. The Professional & Industrial segment delivers staffing, outcome-based, and permanent placement services providing administrative, accounting, and finance; light industrial; contact center staffing; and other workforce solutions.