Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 75,817 Shares of Robert Half Inc. $RHI

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group increased its Robert Half stake by 58.2% in the second quarter, acquiring 75,817 shares and bringing its total holdings to 206,009 shares valued at approximately $6.3 million.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with Truist raising its price target to $50 and BMO upgrading the stock to “outperform.” However, the overall consensus remains “Hold”, with an average price target of $34.75.
• Robert Half reported quarterly EPS of $0.26 and revenue of $1.34 billion, while revenue declined 2.4% year over year. The company declared a $0.59 quarterly dividend, representing a 6.1% annualized yield.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Robert Half Inc. (NYSE:RHI - Free Report) by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 206,009 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 75,817 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Robert Half worth $6,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of RHI. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Robert Half in the 2nd quarter worth about $7,727,000. Cornerstone Capital Inc. bought a new position in Robert Half during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,136,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Robert Half by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 119,848 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,044,000 after acquiring an additional 23,994 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Robert Half during the 1st quarter valued at about $497,000. Finally, Brickwood Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Robert Half in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,908,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on RHI shares. Robert W. Baird set a $47.00 price objective on shares of Robert Half in a report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Robert Half from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Robert Half from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Robert Half from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Robert Half from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Robert Half has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.75.

Robert Half Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE RHI opened at $38.72 on Tuesday. Robert Half Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.83 and a 52 week high of $46.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.88.

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Robert Half had a net margin of 2.17% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Robert Half Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Robert Half Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. Robert Half's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.22%.

About Robert Half

Robert Half NYSE: RHI is a global talent solutions and business consulting company. Through its staffing operations, the company connects employers with skilled professionals for temporary, temporary-to-hire and permanent positions, as well as project-based assignments.

Robert Half specializes in several professional fields, including accounting and finance, technology, legal, marketing and creative, and administrative and customer support services. Its offerings include recruitment, workforce management and talent placement solutions designed to support organizations with changing personnel needs.

The company also operates Protiviti, a wholly owned subsidiary that provides internal audit, risk and compliance, technology, business performance and other consulting services.

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