Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $84.00 to $79.00. The stock had previously closed at $70.60, but opened at $67.91. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Robert Half shares last traded at $69.26, with a volume of 215,324 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on RHI. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Robert Half from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $72.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Robert Half from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.14.

Insider Activity at Robert Half

In other news, EVP Robert W. Glass sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.46, for a total value of $603,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 186,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,970,548.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Robert Half by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,574,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,281,429,000 after purchasing an additional 917,311 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Robert Half by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,270,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $287,265,000 after buying an additional 874,620 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Robert Half by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,634,682 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $193,069,000 after acquiring an additional 57,130 shares during the period. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI lifted its position in shares of Robert Half by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 1,944,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $170,921,000 after acquiring an additional 64,114 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Robert Half by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,792,144 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $131,328,000 after acquiring an additional 164,517 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company’s stock.

Robert Half Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.44.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The business services provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. Robert Half had a return on equity of 25.73% and a net margin of 6.43%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Robert Half’s revenue was down 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Robert Half Inc. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Robert Half Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This is an increase from Robert Half’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. Robert Half’s payout ratio is currently 54.78%.

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.