National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

NRC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of National Research from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on National Research from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised National Research to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.00.

National Research Trading Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:NRC opened at $26.67 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.65 and its 200-day moving average is $19.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.13, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. National Research has a 52 week low of $11.73 and a 52 week high of $27.41. The firm has a market cap of $606.74 million, a P/E ratio of 95.25 and a beta of 0.22.

National Research (NASDAQ:NRC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.03. National Research had a net margin of 4.48% and a return on equity of 171.97%. The company had revenue of $38.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.80 million. Equities analysts expect that National Research will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current year.

National Research Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 29th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 29th. National Research’s payout ratio is presently 228.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On National Research

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NRC. Simplex Trading LLC increased its stake in National Research by 556.4% in the third quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of National Research during the 1st quarter worth about $180,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of National Research during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Empirical Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of National Research during the 2nd quarter worth about $431,000. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of National Research in the 3rd quarter valued at about $538,000. 47.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National Research Company Profile

National Research Corporation, formerly traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol NRC, provides research, analytics and performance-improvement services to the health care industry. Through its NRC Health business, the company helps hospitals, health systems and other care organizations understand and improve patient, consumer and employee experiences.

Its offerings have included patient and employee surveys, market research, reputation management, loyalty and engagement programs, benchmarking, and software tools that turn feedback and other data into operational insights.