Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) Short Interest Up 14.5% in December

Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCSG) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the November 30th total of 2,410,000 shares. Approximately 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 405,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Services Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCSG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 804.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Healthcare Services Group by 44.4% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 85.7% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 8,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 3,774 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Services Group by 1,017.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 9,371 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Healthcare Services Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $116,000. 97.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Healthcare Services Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HCSG traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.61. 419,830 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 487,158. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.13. The company has a market cap of $850.91 million, a P/E ratio of 16.83 and a beta of 0.55. Healthcare Services Group has a 1 year low of $8.98 and a 1 year high of $13.00.

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.03. Healthcare Services Group had a net margin of 2.95% and a return on equity of 12.59%. The firm had revenue of $428.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Healthcare Services Group will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Healthcare Services Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Macquarie started coverage on Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Healthcare Services Group from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Services Group in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Healthcare Services Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.80.

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.