HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reiterated their outperform rating on shares of HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI) in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barrington Research currently has a $13.00 price objective on the stock.

HQI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HireQuest to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of HireQuest in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HireQuest has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.00.

HireQuest Trading Down 0.5%

HireQuest stock opened at $10.23 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $143.22 million, a P/E ratio of 22.73 and a beta of 1.04. HireQuest has a 1-year low of $7.38 and a 1-year high of $12.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.88.

HireQuest Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.33%.

HireQuest announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 17th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 18.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of HireQuest

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in HireQuest by 47.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in HireQuest in the fourth quarter valued at $112,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. lifted its stake in HireQuest by 27.3% in the third quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 16,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 3,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in HireQuest by 67.8% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.00% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Company Profile

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.