HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI) Short Interest Down 5.8% in December

Posted by admin on Jan 25th, 2023

HireQuest, Inc. (NASDAQ:HQI – Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 56,800 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the December 15th total of 60,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of HireQuest

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in HireQuest by 58.4% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in HireQuest by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,371,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in HireQuest during the second quarter worth about $1,448,000. State Street Corp grew its position in HireQuest by 3.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in HireQuest by 262.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 38,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 28,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.97% of the company’s stock.

HireQuest Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ HQI opened at $19.70 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.46. HireQuest has a 52-week low of $11.80 and a 52-week high of $20.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $273.40 million, a P/E ratio of 22.64 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

HireQuest (NASDAQ:HQI – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 3rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.01. HireQuest had a return on equity of 29.18% and a net margin of 35.56%. The business had revenue of $9.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.80 million. On average, analysts anticipate that HireQuest will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HireQuest Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 30th. HireQuest’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

About HireQuest

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HireQuest, Inc engages in the provision of staffing services. It offers temporary, permanent, and direct-hire recruiting and staffing services of entry-level and clerical or admin employees, construction and light industrial workers, semi-skilled trades, healthcare personnel, and professionals and executives.