Kforce (NASDAQ:KFRC) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Kforce Inc. (NASDAQ:KFRC) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $42.76, but opened at $39.70. Kforce shares last traded at $39.05, with a volume of 15,221 shares trading hands.

The business services provider reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.03). Kforce had a return on equity of 30.34% and a net margin of 3.59%. The business had revenue of $330.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Kforce Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. This is a boost from Kforce’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Kforce’s dividend payout ratio is 58.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Kforce from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Kforce by 2.5% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 113,958 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,788 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kforce by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,019 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Kforce by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 35,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Kforce during the first quarter worth about $1,013,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kforce by 198.9% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,487 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 5,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.77% of the company’s stock.

Kforce Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.60. The firm has a market cap of $738.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 0.76.

About Kforce

Kforce Inc provides professional staffing services and solutions in the United States. It operates through two segments, Technology, and Finance and Accounting (FA). The Technology segment provides talent solutions to its clients primarily in the areas of information technology, such as systems/applications architecture and development, data management and analytics, business and artificial intelligence, machine learning, project and program management, and network architecture and security.