Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 491,773 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Robert Half worth $34,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RHI. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Robert Half by 79.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 433 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Robert Half during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Robert Half during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Robert Half by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 679 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Robert Half in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 92.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RHI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Robert Half from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BNP Paribas upgraded Robert Half from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.50 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Robert Half from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.92.

Insider Activity at Robert Half

In related news, Director Dirk A. Kempthorne sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $76,729.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $915,248.50. This represents a 7.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Robert Half Stock Performance

RHI opened at $60.00 on Friday. Robert Half Inc. has a one year low of $57.05 and a one year high of $83.25. The company has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.50.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.01). Robert Half had a net margin of 4.34% and a return on equity of 17.20%. On average, analysts predict that Robert Half Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. Robert Half’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.89%.

About Robert Half

Robert Half Inc provides talent solutions and business consulting services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company operates through Contract Talent Solutions, Permanent Placement Talent Solutions, and Protiviti segments. The Contract Talent Solutions segment provides contract engagement professionals in the fields of finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative, and customer support.