Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Kelly Services in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Kelly Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Barrington Research dropped their price objective on Kelly Services from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.00.

Kelly Services Price Performance

Shares of Kelly Services stock opened at $9.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $348.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.11. Kelly Services has a 52 week low of $7.98 and a 52 week high of $14.94.

Kelly Services (NASDAQ:KELYA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The business services provider reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.29). Kelly Services had a positive return on equity of 4.05% and a negative net margin of 5.98%.The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Kelly Services will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kelly Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Kelly Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently -4.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kelly Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 173.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,970 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Kelly Services by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,006 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kelly Services by 175.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co acquired a new position in shares of Kelly Services in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Kelly Services by 83.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.34% of the company’s stock.

Key Kelly Services News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kelly Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director James Christopher Hunt bought 1,000 shares at about $9.58, raising his stake ~20% to 5,976 shares — a standard bullish signal that insiders see value at current levels. Form 4 filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble Financial published detailed quarter-by-quarter EPS assumptions (Q2: $0.30, Q3: $0.24, Q4: $0.71) and a FY2027 projection of $2.07 — useful inputs for modeling but not uniformly bullish. Noble estimates (MarketBeat)
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble Financial also commented on Kelly’s recent Q1 results and outlook in a note; read-throughs provide context for the estimate revisions. Noble Financial comments
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data for February appears inconsistent/erroneous (zeros/NaN); no clear signal from short interest at present. Short interest note
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Kelly from “hold” to “strong sell,” a headline-negative that can pressure sentiment and trading flows. Zacks downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Noble Financial cut FY2026 EPS from $1.83 to $1.36 — the downward revision (and Noble’s lower-than-consensus FY2026/FY2027 path) reinforces concerns about near-term profitability after Kelly’s recent Q1 miss (EPS $0.16 vs. $0.45 estimate, revenue $1.05B vs. $1.03B). Estimate cut (MarketBeat)

Kelly Services Company Profile

Kelly Services, Inc is a global workforce solutions provider specializing in talent acquisition and staffing services across a wide range of industries. The company offers temporary staffing, permanent placement, outsourcing solutions, and consulting services to help organizations address their workforce needs. Its service offerings are designed to support clients in areas such as administrative support, information technology, engineering, science, education, healthcare, and industrial sectors.

Founded in 1946 by William Russell Kelly, Kelly Services has grown from a small local staffing firm into an international organization.