HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Shares Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI)’s share price fell 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $11.87 and last traded at $12.39. Approximately 15,739 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the average daily volume of 13,506 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HQI shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of HireQuest in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings raised HireQuest from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Barrington Research upped their price objective on HireQuest from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HireQuest has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.00.

HireQuest Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $176.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.00.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.02. HireQuest had a net margin of 21.98% and a return on equity of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $6.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.75 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that HireQuest, Inc. will post 0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HireQuest

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in HireQuest by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 293,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 12,246 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in HireQuest during the 4th quarter worth $112,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HireQuest by 67.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 10,627 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of HireQuest by 158.0% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 6,702 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HireQuest by 4.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 5,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

About HireQuest

HireQuest, Inc is a publicly traded holding company that provides equipment rental and workforce solutions across North America through two primary operating subsidiaries. Its Coast Equipment Rentals division offers a broad range of support equipment—such as pumps, trench safety systems, power and HVAC units, air compressors, light towers and generators—to the construction, industrial, municipal and environmental markets. Coast Equipment Rentals operates more than 135 branch locations in 36 U.S.